The Other Uzumaki
by klutz1422
Summary: Nanami was just an ordinary girl until she decides to look up her long lost brother. Now everyday with Naruto is an adventure as Nanami attends high school with him and finds out what it means to have a brother.
1. Chapter 1 I'm Not an Only Child?

**Chapter 1- I'm Not an Only Child?**

Nanami drove into Konoha taking in the sights as she looked for address she had been told. She was nervous. What if he didn't like her or despised her? She finally found the house she was looking for. It was small and plain, but she didn't expect any different. She pulled up into the driveway and tried to settle her butterflies.

"Well, I guess this is it Little Red." Little Red was the name of her jeep. Nanami didn't know why, but she always named her vehicles even if that did sound lame.

She took a deep breath and stepped out of the car and up to the little white door. She knocked, and waited for what seemed like forever. Finally, she heard the pounding of footsteps. What if it was him? She was starting to wimp out and she hadn't even seen him yet.

"Hello?" a boy only two years younger than her asked opening the door wide.

Nanami felt herself gasp. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes even though she didn't release them. This blonde haired boy with the stupid look on his face was the exact person she had been looking for. Nanami took him in starting from his shaggy, spiky blonde hair, down to his crystal blue eyes, his black tee, and finally his orange pants. She couldn't believe how much he looked just like _him_.

"Um, earth to girl?" He asked getting freaked out.

Nanami was pulled from her trance. "Sorry, hi, I'm Nanami and…um, well. This is going to sound pretty crazy." She started blubbering. How was she possibly going to tell him that she was his older sister!

"I just came by to tell you that…well, that" she sighed, realizing that she couldn't follow through. "That I got lost and was wondering if you could give me directions."

"Oh" her brother laughed. "Why didn't you say that in the first place?"

"Tongue-tied I guess." She weakly joked. So much for her big reveal. "Yeah, um, actually I'm getting pretty hungry. Is there any way I can get you to show me a good place to eat?"

"Ichiraku's, hands down. In fact, I wouldn't mind grabbing a bowl of ramen myself." He said rubbing his stomach hungrily.

"Oh, well, great. Hop in." On one hand she was relieved that she would get another chance to tell him. However, her protective sister instincts kicked in as she wondered how stupid he could be to get in a car with a complete stranger.

"Alright, let me grab my jacket." He grinned excitedly, and then ran back in the house.

Nanami ran her fingers through her red hair, that she had let down for the occasion. She had planned this to go a lot differently in her head, but maybe she still had a chance to tell him. It had only been a couple of minutes before he was standing right before her again, closing the door to the house. She led the way back to her car.

"Hey, your car matches your hair!" He announced.

"Yeah, I guess it does." She shook her head, marveling at his great observation. "So where to?"

"Go down this street; take a left at the stop sign, and then its two blocks from school."

"Alright," I said starting to back up. "Um, Naruto."

"Yeah" he answered.

"Your seatbelt isn't buckled."

"We're only going a few blocks." He tried to laugh it off. I shot him my death glare, keeping my foot planted on the brake.

"Fine" he finally grumbled, trying to angrily pull down the strap but couldn't because of it locking in place. Nanami started to laugh, and he finally got it on. He crossed his arms, and started pouting.

"What a second!" he yelled, something dawning on him. "You called me Naruto."

"Yeah that's your name, silly." Nanami laughed not catching her mistake.

"Yeah, but. I never told you my name." he announced quietly.

Nanami stopped laughing, realizing what she did. Crap!

"So this stop sign?" She asked, hoping to change the subject.

Naruto looked ahead. "Yeah this one. You still haven't told me how you know my name." His eyes grew dark, and Nanami realized that even if he would get into a car with a stranger he wasn't gullible enough to trust them. Well, at least not completely.

This is it; she can finally tell him the truth. "I, I, um. I saw it in the roster for Konoha High and guessed that it was you." She blurted, mentally slapping herself. Eventually, she would have to tell him the truth.

"Oh. That makes sense." He said returning to his smiling self. Nanami didn't say anything. She was still pretty angry with herself for not telling him the truth when she had the chance.

After riding for a couple more minutes, Nanami pulled up at an old-Japanese style bar with paper blinds for privacy.

"Is this the place?" she asked Naruto.

"Yep, this is Ichiraku's" Naruto announced happily, already jumping out of the car. He ran up to the bar inside already ordering before Nanami even made it inside.

"Don't worry I ordered for you." He assured me his eyes hungrily staring at the man preparing the food, anticipating his dish.

"What did you order?" I asked, grinning at how happy he looked.

He gave the "Are you from another planet?" look, making me wonder if I said something wrong.

"Ramen, of course!"

She started laughing then. He had such a carefree nature; she couldn't help but enjoy her time with him. He sulked, thinking that she was laughing at his general answer. When she finally assured him that she wasn't laughing at him, their ramen arrived. His eyes lit up as he eagerly dove in. Nanami took a timid bite, and found her also eating the ramen up as rapidly as he. This was the best ramen she had ever tasted!

After they had both finished their bowls, Naruto started ordering a second bowl. She decided to take this little break to get to know him.

"So Naruto. What else do you like to do besides eat ramen?"

Naruto looked deep in thought. "Well I like to hang out with my friends and play sports."

"Oh, yeah? What do you play?"

"Football, basketball, and baseball." He listed off.

"Ah, the Big Three."

He laughed. "Yeah, it can get pretty hectic sometimes."

Nanami knew that she shouldn't bring it up, but she came on a mission and now had the best opportunity to complete it.

"So, what's your family like?" She asked quietly.

He looked a little distant, and she realized through all his goofiness he really has been hurting this whole time. It made her heart ache, and she turned away trying not to cry.

"I don't know. My parents died when I was real little. I went from foster home to foster home until the Pervy Sage found me. I've been living with him ever since."

Nanami was fixing to spill her secret right then until she really heard the end of his statement.

"The Pervy Sage?" She questioned, her eyebrow rising.

He started laughing. "Yeah that's my nickname for him. His real name is Jiraiya."

She wasn't exactly sure if she was okay with him living with someone he calls a Pervy Sage, but what right did she have to interfere? Wasn't it good that he at least found somebody?

"So," he started through mouthfuls of ramen. His second bowl arrived while we were talking. "What about you?"

She smiled. "What about me?" Nanami knew exactly what he wanted to know, but that would require her telling her story. Even though that was exactly what she came here to do, she didn't want to risk it yet.

"You know. What do you like to do? What's your family like? Why did you come to Konoha?"

She started laughing at his long line of questions. "What would you like me to tell you first?"

"Okay. What were you looking for before you knocked on my door?" He asked.

She stopped laughing and sighed. She knew that they were going to come back to this eventually. Alright, no more beating around the bush just come out and say it.

"I was looking for my brother." She slowly spit out.

"Oh yeah. Why don't you two live together?"

"Well, we were sort of separated when he was born."

"That's a bummer. So does he know you're looking for him? How old is he?"

She gave him a sad smile. "Unfortunately, he doesn't know I exist and he's a teenage boy just like you."

This was it. She had to just tell him.

"Hypothetically, Naruto, what would you do if your long lost sister showed up on your front porch." She waited anxiously. No matter how he would take, she would still tell. There was no backing out now.

Naruto considered it for a minute. "Well, I'd probably be pretty happy knowing that I really did have family that was still alive."

"Really?" she asked, not bothering to hide the hope in her voice.

"Well, yeah, I mean it would be kind of strange. But I think I would really love to have a sister."

"Well then you got your wish." She smiled happily.

"What?" Naruto yelled taken aback.

"Naruto, I am Nanami Uzumaki. Your older sister."

* * *

So this is my first FanFic. Thank you for reading, and don't forget to review. I would like to know what you think to help me out in the future. I'm looking to post every Tues. night, but we'll see how it goes.


	2. Chapter 2 Do All Sisters Do That?

**Chapter 2- Do All Sisters Do That?**

He seemed to be taking it better than what Nanami thought, although he wasn't his happy go-lucky self. He wasn't yelling yet either, which she took as a good sign. After she had dropped the bomb, she paid for their meal and then dragged a very stunned looking Naruto back to her car. It was quiet as she drove him back to his house. Finally, it became too much to take.

"Say something! Ask me questions, yell, something! I'm tired of the silent treatment."

He stared at her. At first his eyes showed confusion, but very quickly they became angry. Oh, boy here it comes.

"YOU! You knew the whole time! And you let me believe…you asked me about…Who do you think you are to just waltz into my life?"

"What happened to being pretty happy?" she mumbled. She knew that wasn't fair. She would probably be acting the same way, but this is sort of why she didn't want to say anything.

"Oh, yeah. I'm so happy to have a sister who has lied to me for fifteen years!" he snapped back. She was done listening to him whine at this point. She pulled up in his driveway, put the car in park, and turned to glare at him.

"Let me tell you something, _brother. _I didn't lie. Yes, I avoided the topic for the first twenty minutes I've met you, but it's not like I could just show up at your door and tell you I'm your long lost sister!"

"Really? Cuz you kind of did!" He shot back. He had her there. He jumped out of the car and slammed the door. Really, he didn't have to take out his frustration at her on Little Red.

She got out too and tried to keep herself from beating the kid as she ran after him. He was already up to the door though, and as she reached the porch he slammed the door in her face. She tried turning the knob, but found the door locked.

"Naruto! Naruto! Open up! Let me explain at least!" she hollered.

"Go away!" was the only reply she got back.

She yelled a couple of more times, and slammed her first against the door. She finally gave up, and slumped onto the porch. She saw this coming, she just was hoping for something better. After five more minutes of throwing a pity party for herself she got up ready to drive off. She didn't know where but anywhere was better than here. She heard the door creep open behind her. She turned around to see Naruto with his head down and his hands in his pockets.

"Hey" he started.

"Hey" She replied, happy just to get that much.

"Do ya…want to come in?" he asked timidly.

"Sure." Nanami said shrugging her shoulders.

She followed Naruto into the house. The first room she walked into was the living room and Naruto led the way straight over to the couch. He instantly flipped on the TV leaving her standing there feeling awkward. She found a chair to sit down in. She looked at the coffee table and saw papers laid out all over it. She picked up one, curious and started reading it. She quickly threw it back onto the table a deep blush creeping into her cheeks.

Naruto smirked. "Now you know why I call him the Pervy Sage."

"He reads that?" she asked incredulously.

She got a real grin out of him. "He writes it."

She gave him a disgusted look not believing that he actually lived with a guy like that. It seemed to do the trick, because Naruto was laughing at her face. She started laughing because he was laughing, but their laughter was short lived. Pretty soon it was back to the awkward silence with Psych reruns in the background.

"So" she started trying to think of anything to say.

"Did you know them? Our parents, I mean?" His big blue eyes were heavy with sadness, but still starving for information.

"Not really. They both died when I was only two years old. Right after you were born, actually."

"How?"

"Our dad was a cop who got killed on the job, and our mom died in childbirth." she explained sadly.

"Oh."

She was expecting a little bit more than that, but she was going to take what she could get.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" she asked, quietly.

He looked like he was going to say something when the front door crashed open.

"Naruto! What is that jeep doing in the driveway? I couldn't even pull up to the garage!" a loud voice started bellowing.

Nanami jumped up, not wanting to be a bother.

"I'm sorry, I'll go-"

"Quit yelling, Pervy Sage. Can't you see I have a guest?" Naruto interrupted.

Nanami got my first good look at the man as he turned around to stare at her. He had white spiky hair pulled into a ponytail that reached all the way down his back, a red shirt with black netting underneath, and dark green cargo pants with sandals. For an old guy he sure didn't dress like one.

"Oh, a lady friend I see. Naruto you sly dog." He grinned wildly. Nanami felt a deep blush understanding how this looked.

"It isn't like that you perv!" Naruto yelled his blush almost the exact shade as hers.

"Naruto. I told you to never call me that." He said sternly.

"Whatever." Naruto grumbled.

"Well, I should probably go." Nanami finally said.

"Where will you go?" Naruto asked sadly.

"Well now that I have a reason to stay in Konoha, I should probably rent an apartment and enroll in high school." She answered with a smile.

Naruto's face lit up. "Rent an apartment? You're only a kid." Jiraiya added.

"Yeah you should stay with us." Naruto declared.

Nanami could feel her face get hot. Partly because she was embarrassed about not being able to take care of herself, and partly because she was so delighted that Naruto wanted her to stay.

"Now hold on Naruto. She barely even knows us. We can't have complete strangers in our home." Jiraiya informed.

"Listen, Pervy Sage. My sister is staying her and that's it." Naruto insisted crossing his arms like a pouting child.

"Sister?" Jiraiya asked, surprised. Nanami sighed and then walked over to Jiraiya with her hand extended.

"Hi, I'm Nanami Uzumaki. Pleased to meet you."

* * *

"Well, I guess it's a good thing we bought a three bedroom house after all." Jiraiya commented, showing her the guest bedroom at the top of the stairs.

There wasn't much there. All it had was a bed, a dresser, and a desk. However, to Nanami it was perfect. It was more than she had for certain as she stared down at her only duffle bag.

"We can go shopping tomorrow to make it more girly or whatever." Jiraiya tried offer. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable with having a girl in his home after his however many years of bachelorhood.

"Whatever. I'm really just fine with this." She stated. "And thank you again for letting me stay."

Jiraiya smiled. "Let's just say it's the least I can do for Minato."

With that he left leaving Nanami stunned. So Jiraiya has been taking care of Naruto all these years because he knew their father. Maybe he wasn't such a bad guy after all.

It didn't take long for Nanami to unpack. She put her few sets of clothes on hangers and her delicates in the dresser. The last thing she pulled out was a very worn photo. Nanami stared at it smiling. It was the last and only picture of her entire family. Her mom lying in a hospital bed holding a sleeping baby with yellow hair. Her father with his hand wrapped around his wife staring at the bundle in her arms with wonder. Finally, a small red-headed girl grinning her cheesiest smile at the camera. She could hardly believe that she had finally found that same blonde baby.

"Hey, Nanami?" a voice asked from her doorway. She looked up surprised to see Naruto.

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Um, I just wanted to say sorry, about earlier. I really shouldn't have gotten angry with you. And I'm really glad to know that I have a sister."

She smiled. "Alright, enough with the mush. It looks like I'll be here for a little while so don't be going soft on me."

She went over and hugged him. Then she kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, Naruto."

"Yuck, do all sisters do weird stuff like that?" he yelled with indecency.

"I don't know I haven't been one long enough."

He flashed that grin and wandered over to his room across the hall. Nanami went back into her new room and flopped down on her new bed. For the first time in ages, she slept peacefully.

* * *

I know these first few chapters are slow going, but it gets better. Trust me. I forgot to mention in my first chapter that I don't own anything Naruto and Nanami is my own OC. Thanks for reading and don't forget to review! I don't care if you're the same person I love listening to what you think! :)


	3. Chapter 3 Where Do Normal Girls Shop?

**Okay I know that this intro stuff can get kind of boring, but thank you for reading! I promise things will speed up. In fact, I've introduced one of Nanami's love interests in this chapter. Don't assume that this will be the person she ends up with though. I'm putting in someone else later, and haven't decided which one I like better yet. **

**Oh, and even though I think that it should be obvious: I don't own anything Naruto or any of the stores I mention later. I only own Nanami.**

* * *

**Chapter 3- Where Do Normal Girls Shop?**

The sunlight streamed in through the window at the perfect angle to shine down on Nanami. She shot up instantly, trying to get her bearings. That's when she remembered that she was in Naruto's house, her brother's house. She jumped out of bed already knowing this was going to be a great day. She changed clothes pulling on her usual attire of jeans, a red sleeveless shirt with small ruffles at the ends, and a pair of black flats.

She went down the hall until she found the bathroom Naruto and Nanami shared. She checked herself out in the mirror. She decided it wasn't too bad except for her hair. It has been down far too long for her taste. She decided to fix it her usual way. She divided her hair into four sections, braided each section towards the middle, and then gathered the ends of the braids into two buns. After a few more tweaks to her appearance, she looked into her sapphire eyes and decided that it was good enough.

She walked down the stairs into the living room, and then turned right hoping to find Naruto and Jiraiya in the kitchen/dining room. She found it surprisingly empty. She checked the clock on the wall: 9:00. She guessed that they were still sleeping so Nanami decided to make breakfast for when they got up. It was the least she could do since they were letting her live here. She searched the fridge and the pantry, but couldn't find anything to make a good meal. She rolled her eyes; of course a house with only guys would have nothing to make a breakfast from scratch. She remembered seeing a grocery store on her way to Ichiraku's with Naruto yesterday.

She grabbed her keys and headed out toward Little Red. She really took in the town on her way. Konoha really was a beautiful town. Their motto was "The Village Hidden in the Leaves" and Nanami could certainly tell with all of the trees she passed. Finally, she reached the store and hopped out.

She decided to make pancakes and bacon. She picked up some milk, pancake mix, eggs, bacon, and decided to grab some orange juice as well. As she walked toward the register she mentally started adding up the price seeing if she would have enough money. She turned the corner and ran straight into someone.

Her butt hit the ground, and she tried her hardest to keep the eggs from breaking. However, everything else started falling out of her hands landing around her. Luckily nothing broke.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry. Here let me help."

She let the person help her up and then help her gather her groceries.

"Uh, no, I'm sorry. I should have been looking where I was going." She tried to apologize.

As she straightened up she finally got a good look at the boy before her. He wore a gray zip-up hoodie with the hood up, dark washed jeans, and basketball style sneakers. His eyes were sharp and alert like a wolf, but she could also see a softness to them. She also spied a small tuft of curly brown hair sticking out from under his hood. She tried to picture him with all of his hair showing, and couldn't wrap her mind around it.

"So here you go." He said handing her the groceries.

"Thanks," she replied. She reached her hand out, and jumped at a small bark. Sticking out of the hoodie was a small white dog.

"Akamaru." The boy scolded. The dog continued to yelp, and from the looks of it, wag its tail.

Nanami thought that it was a little strange, but didn't question it.

"So, it looks like you're making breakfast." He pointed out.

"Yeah, I just needed to grab a few things."

"Did you just move here?" he asked, almost out of the blue.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." I asked perplexed.

"Well, it was just that I hadn't seen you around before, so I just figured…" he blabbered, a small blush rising in his cheeks.

Nanami smiled, finally getting it. "Yeah, yeah, this is actually my second day in Konoha."

"Oh, well then welcome. My name's Kiba." He pointed to himself.

"Nanami." She replied.

She finally reached the register, and pulled out her wallet to pay.

"Here allow me." Kiba offered, pulling out his own.

Nanami looked surprised. "You don't have to do that."

"Consider it a welcome gift. Maybe next time I can come over and actually have some of those pancakes." He teased.

"Yeah, maybe." She replied back.

She grabbed the groceries of the counter. "I guess I'll see you later. And thanks, again." She called back walking out of the store.

When she got back to her car she finally let the nervous butterflies take over. Did he just flirt with her or was he being friendly? She couldn't help but think about his hair, his eyes, and his smile the whole way back to Naruto's house.

Before long she was cooking up a great smelling meal as the sound of bacon sizzling filled the silence. Even cooking couldn't distract her from Kiba. She shook her head. What did she really know about the kid? All of a sudden she heard two loud thumps and pounding feet getting closer to the kitchen. She smiled. It seemed like she knew how to get those two out of bed.

"Good morning, boys." She said cheerfully. "Ready for pancakes and bacon?"

She turned around to find them practically drooling over the sight before them.

"You made this for us?" Naruto asked eagerly.

"Well of course." She replied. "It was the least I could do after you let me stay and everything."

She set the plates of food down before them at the table, and watched them devour it almost instantaneously.

"Kid, if you cook breakfast like this every day, there's no way we'd let you leave." Jiraiya praised between bites.

Nanami took the compliment to heart, and sat down with her own plate feeling absolutely giddy. They finished up their breakfast fairly quickly, and Jiraiya already had instructions for how to proceed with the rest of the day.

"Look, you can't live on that one duffel bag full of stuff. You are going to need some new clothes, stuff to fill your room, and school supplies. You and Naruto will go to the mall to do some shopping."

Nanami wanted to protest, but she knew he was right.

"Fine" she conceded.

"Good, here's some money and I'll take care of getting you enrolled at Konoha High School. What grade will you be going into?"

"I'll be a junior." She declared.

"Alright, two years older than Naruto. I think I can remember that. Now go, have fun, and uh, don't be afraid to do some shopping at Victoria Secret." He said with a greedy grin on his face.

Nanami blushed. Even if this guy did know her dad, he was still incredibly creepy.

"Pervy Sage!" Naruto hollered, anger painting his cheeks red as well.

"Alright, alright. Just be back before dinner." He conceded.

Naruto already had Nanami halfway out the door as Jiraiya was giving his last instructions. He dragged her over to Little Red and they peeled out toward the Konoha Mall.

"Hey, don't worry about Jiraiya. He can be a little weird sometimes, but he's really a good guy." Naruto tried to defend him.

"It's no biggie, Naruto."

They rode in silence for a little while.

"So" they both said simultaneously. They gave a small laugh.

"So what?" She forfeited to Naruto.

"So, how did you find me?" He asked curious.

"Well, that's actually a long story. The gist of it being that I was trying to find out about our father, got my information crossed, and ended up seeing a football roster for Konoha instead. The rest I suppose is self-explanatory."

"Then it was by accident?"

"I guess…" Nanami was puzzled not sure what he was after. However, she didn't have time to question him as he nearly jumped out of his seat announcing that they were here.

Nanami parked, and then worked hard to catch up to the excited teenager.

"Naruto, wait up!" she hollered.

"Nanami! Where do you want to go first? Hibbett's, Game Stop, the food court?" His eyes lit up at the last one. Nanami shook her head.

"Naruto, we just ate like not even an hour ago. And no. I'd really like to do what I came for and go clothes shopping."

"Fine." Naruto grumbled, following instep behind her as she led the way over to a directory.

"Now where's a good place to start?" she studied the chart.

"You mean you don't even know where you want to go?" Naruto asked baffled.

"Look, the most shopping I've ever done has been at Wal-Mart."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, Naruto." She sighed already tired of the conversation.

"Well then, I'll show you where to go." Naruto took upon himself.

"You know where to find women's clothing…" She raised one eyebrow, both doubting and appalled.

"Yeah, Sakura always makes us go to these really girly stores." Was his reply.

Nanami brightened up. "Oooh, is that a girlfriend?" she asked slyly.

"No!" Naruto yelled, his cheeks flushed bright pink.

Nanami laughed. It was obvious that he had a crush on this Sakura girl. After dragging her halfway across the mall, Naruto stopped. Nanami looked into the store.

"Here? Really? This is where normal girls shop?"

"Yeah why what's wrong with it?"

Nanami looked in the beach front style store windows trying to see into the dark store that pumped loud music. She couldn't even figure out what the store's name was until she saw a surfboard peeking out. Hollister, huh?

"No not that one!" Naruto yelled at her.

She looked over to where Naruto was standing across the pathway. The store he was looking at was definitely more her style. Rue 21 definitely was more inviting, and had tons of cute stuff. She stepped inside and instantly found several outfits she liked. She started grabbing clothes off the racks to try them on. Then she proceeded to a changing room making Naruto sit outside and tell her how she looked when she came out. After about thirty minutes of this, she could tell that he was getting irritable.

"Alright Naruto, I think that's the last one." She called out from the dressing room. She put back on her original clothes and grabbed the outfits she liked. She walked out to see that Naruto was no longer sitting in his chair.

"Naruto?" She walked around the corner hoping she would catch a glimpse of his blonde hair. That was when she heard laughter off to the right. Curiously, she moved over there to see her brother talking to a group of people. There was a girl with pink hair who he was practically drooling over. She took a guess and figured this was Sakura. She was also accompanied by a dark haired boy in a white dress shirt and dress pants, a girl with a blonde ponytail and a purple dress, a boy with a dark ponytail and a sleepy look in his eyes, a bigger boy with a bag of chips in his hands that he continually stuffed into his mouth, a shy girl with purple hair in a large hoodie, and to Nanami's surprise Kiba.

Naruto was friends with Kiba? Nanami started to feel out of place. She didn't know whether she should go over there or just pay for her clothes. She decided to go with the latter and was inching away from the group when Kiba spotted her.

"Oh, hey!" He hollered at her. Well now she was in the spotlight. Everyone turned to look at her as Kiba walked over to her.

"So I guess you felt like you needed to go shopping again?" He teased.

"Oh yeah, just couldn't get enough of what Konoha had to offer." She agreed, lamely.

"Well, I bet those pancakes were good."

"Um, yeah, they were alright." She answered modestly.

"Alright? They were stinking awesome!" Naruto finally stepped in.

Kiba looked surprised. "Wait Naruto, you know Nanami?"

"Of course I do. How do you know her?" He asked protectively.

"I ran into at the grocery store this morning."

"Huh. How come you didn't say anything Nanami?" Naruto asked her.

Nanami blushed, once again being the center of the attention. "Well I didn't exactly have a chance to bring it up."

"So wait a minute. Naruto got some of your pancakes this morning?" Kiba asked. Nanami thought she heard jealousy in his voice, but decided she was mistaken.

"Of course. We live in the same house after all." Naruto fired back, stupidly.

All of the girls gasped, and a couple of the guys smirked. Nanami turned bright red at this point.

"What?" Kiba asked, his face revealing his shock.

"Yeah, I was going to tell you guys. This is Nanami, my sister."

* * *

**Oooh, kind of a cliffhanger. In case you didn't figure it out, the guy I was talking about at the beginning was Kiba. I just love him, he's so sweet! But he may or may not win Nanami's affections, like I said I haven't decided yet. Also, I'm sorry if I offended anybody with the Hollister jab. No offense to anybody, but I had a really bad experience there and have vowed death to the store! So it could have been worse, but don't use that as an excuse to quit reading because I'm done mentioning it.**

**Thank you for keeping up with the story and don't forget to review! :)**


	4. Chapter 4 Is It Too Late to Start Over?

**I still don't own anything Naruto. Sorry not a whole lot going on in this chapter, and it's my shortest chapter so far. But still read it! **

* * *

**Chapter 4- Is It Too Late to Start Over?**

Nanami was groaning internally as she made her way over to the cash register while being bombarded by questions from Naruto's friends. She really wished he would have consulted her before he opened his big mouth like that.

"You're Naruto's sister?"

"How come you've been gone for so long?"

"Where have you been?"

"Why are you here now?"

"Do you want to hang out with us?"

"Where all are you shopping at?"

Nanami couldn't hear what the cashier was saying over the constant questions. She couldn't even tell who was asking what. Finally, she had all she could take.

"Guys! Please just shut up for like five minutes! I can't possibly answer you all at once!"

They all shut up, probably surprised by her sudden outburst. Now that she could finally understand the cashier she paid for her clothes and stormed out of the store with the rest of the kids following. She turned around and faced them.

"Now, if you want to ask me something, please do it one at a time." She managed to say calmly even though she felt like she was one question away from killing someone.

No one said anything at first. Nanami was starting to feel self-conscious from all of their staring.

"I'm hungry." Naruto finally announced. That seemed to distract the group from her at the moment. Pretty soon all of the guys were complaining about having nothing to eat.

Nanami sighed gratefully. Even if he didn't do it on purpose, Naruto sure knew how to come through with the save.

"Well what if you go with your friends, and I'll finish shopping and meet you at the food court?" Nanami suggested to Naruto.

"That sounds great!" Naruto yelled as he took off running in the opposite direction.

A couple of the guys sighed and followed him. Kiba lingered a little bit longer but finally followed the others. The only people left in front of Nanami were the three girls.

"So you're really Naruto's sister?" the pink haired one asked.

"Yes" Nanami sighed, exasperated.

"Well do you mind if we go with you?" She asked unphased by Nanami's aggravation.

"Yeah, I like the guys, but sometimes we just need girl time." The blonde haired one added. From the way she said it, Nanami could tell that she enjoyed all of the attention she drew from the opposite sex. Nanami rolled her eyes.

"Well, yeah, I guess if you want. I still need to pick out stuff for my bedroom and school supplies." Nanami finally surrendered.

"Great! We actually came here in the first place for school supplies. I just got sidetracked by the cute outfits." The pink haired girl admitted, blushing.

"Awesome. You can show me where I should go, since my guide bailed on me." Nanami said referring to Naruto.

"Alright!" They cheered.

As they started shopping, the girls instantly took to Nanami telling her all of the town gossip, who's hot at the school, and where the best places to hang out were. Nanami also learned the girls' names along with everyone else's name. The one with the shoulder length pink hair, sea-green eyes, red headband, red tank top with the pink sweater over it, black skirt, and pink Ugg boots was Sakura. Nanami was right on that one. The girl with the blonde ponytail and bangs, baby blue eyes, purple sweater dress with a large black belt sitting above her waist, black leggings, and black ballerina flats was Ino. The shy girl who had barely uttered a word the entire time with purple hair, light mauve eyes, a netting shirt with a large purple hoodie, jeans, and black tennis shoes was Hinata.

They started going on about all of the guys in their group. Apparently Sakura and Ino thought Naruto was a good friend just not boyfriend worthy. Even though Naruto had been totally crushing on Sakura, Nanami could tell that Hinata was crazy for him by the way she blushed when they talked about him. Nanami found it very interesting and upsetting that her younger brother was in a love triangle at fifteen. Nanami's older sister instincts started to fire up at this, but they didn't stay on the subject of Naruto long, probably for that very reason.

The person they wouldn't shut up about was Sasuke Uchiha who was the nicely dressed dark headed boy. They started talking about how he was the Konoha version of Neal Caffrey: sexy, well-dressed, and smart. Nanami rolled her eyes at this. She finally got them off the subject of Sasuke long enough to have them tell her about the others.

The boy with the black ponytail, black zip-up hoodie with white splatter paint design, black skinny jeans, earrings, and lazy attitude was Shikamaru. The guy with the big appetite, shaggy brown hair, and red and black jogging suit was Choji. Kiba, Nanami already kind of knew, and apparently someone named Shino was missing from their group.

"So, you and Kiba. What's going on there?" Ino asked slyly.

Nanami blushed even though she really didn't know why. "Nothing. He was just really nice to me this morning, that's all." She explained really fast.

"Uh-huh." Ino replied, unbelieving that it was that innocent.

"So what do you think about this?" Nanami asked holding up some curtains, trying to change the subject.

Ino and Sakura rolled their eyes, but went ahead and helped her pick out the perfect curtains for her new pad. Nanami held back a little to talk to Hinata.

"It doesn't look like Kiba and I have a thing, does it?"

"Well, act-actually N-Nanami. It kind of does." She stuttered.

"Great." Nanami huffed. "Not only am I the new girl and Naruto's sister, but now I'm in a non-existing relationship with Kiba."

Hinata giggled. "There could be worse things." She pointed out.

"I suppose that's true." Nanami smiled wryly.

Hinata seemed to be warming up to Nanami the more they talked, and Nanami found that they really had a lot of things in common. She found herself rooting for Hinata in Naruto's love life even though she liked Sakura too.

"Okay so do you want to go catch up with the guys?" Sakura asked, as they left the store.

"Yes!" Ino blurted.

Nanami suppressed a laugh. Ino is so boy crazy!

"That's cool." Nanami agreed. Hinata smiled and nodded her head so they all headed over to the food court.

It wasn't hard to find them since they were the loudest and biggest group there. Nanami really noticed that it was Naruto being loud and the rest of the guys were either going along with it or telling him to shut up. Nanami shook her head at her ridiculous, yet incredibly adorable little brother.

"Hey guys!" Ino called, announcing her arrival.

"Hey girls!" Naruto shouted and waved, as if we couldn't see where they were sitting.

We made it over to their tables and set our bags down.

"So how did it go?" Kiba asked.

"Way too much fun." Ino announced. "You should invite your sister to hang out more often Naruto."

"Like that had been a previous option." Sasuke pointed out dully.

"So I'm going to get something to drink. Do you want something? Ino? Sakura? Hinata?" Nanami asked uncomfortable about having everyone talk about her.

"Nah, we're good." They answered back.

"Hey! Get me one of those giant cookies!" Naruto yelled at her.

"Naruto quit yelling! And why can't you go get your own cookie?"

"You're the one who offered." He grumbled. Shikamaru and Sasuke snickered. She wondered if they were laughing at her or him, but decided to let it go rather than question it.

"Fine, whatever." She turned and walked away.

"Hey, wait up. I'll go with you."

Nanami didn't stop, but slowed down so Kiba could catch up.

"So you're Naruto's sister." Was the first thing Kiba stated when he caught up.

"I thought that had already been established." She replied back with a small smile.

"You could have told me." He said with a slight pout.

"Yes, when would you have liked me to do it when you ran over me in the grocery store or when I was ambushed by you and Naruto in J.C. Penny's?"

He didn't say anything for a while and Nanami made it to the cookie stand. She ordered a Coke ICEE and then two giant chocolate-chip cookies. She figured if she was here she might as well get one for herself.

"I've got it." He said reaching for his wallet.

"Will you stop buying me food?" She teased, but still refused to let him pay. "I can kind of understand in the grocery store, but you haven't done anything to me now."

"Well, I feel bad about earlier. I mean, I kind of thought, that you and Naruto weren't, well…" He started blushing, and was too embarrassed to finish his sentence.

Nanami started laughing understanding what he thought. "How about we just start over? No more owing each other anything, kay?"

"Alright." He agreed. Akamaru who had been quiet the whole time yipped his reply to that.

Nanami jumped. "I almost forgot about you Akamaru." She giggled, reaching out to pet the white dog. He growled nervously, and Nanami was almost afraid that he was going to bite her. However, he allowed her to scratch his head, and slowly started to relax under her touch.

"I guess Akamaru likes me." She happily proclaimed.

"Yeah, looks like that makes two of us." Kiba softly murmured. Nanami felt herself blush as they walked back over to the gang. It seemed like Konoha was going to be a very charming place to live.

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**Awww, isn't Kiba so cute and such a gentleman. Okay so I know I said last chapter that I was going to add in another love interest, and I am. I'm still trying to work him in. Also I wasn't trying to make a love at first sight kind of thing. Kiba likes Nanami he just doesn't know if its like that yet. Thanks to everybody who has been reading so far and I still need reviews!**


	5. Chapter 5 Are You Always Like This?

**Okay so I've been working hard to get to the exciting stuff, but its not here yet. This is pretty much filler, but go ahead and read or else you won't know what's going on in the next chapter. I don't own anything Naruto or anything else that sounds like it needs a disclaimer.**

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**Chapter 5- Are You Always Like This?**

Nanami and Naruto left the mall after spending a couple more hours with the guys. Somehow, she managed to stuff her giant bags in the back seat of Little Red, and still have room for Naruto and herself.

"So your friends were nice." Nanami commented nonchalantly, although her thoughts were still stuck on Kiba.

"Yeah, they're the best!" Naruto agreed with a grin.

"Are they all freshmen, too?"

"Yep."

"Oh." Nanami commented disappointed. She would still go to Konoha High School soon and not know a single person in her grade.

Naruto had started fiddling with the dial on her radio and came across a good rock station. They both started rocking out and singing along all the way back to the house. Naruto helped her bring all of her bags inside and up to her room.

"Man! You got a lot of stuff!" He commented as he carried the last bag up.

Nanami had thought so too until she started unpacking. She had half a closet full of clothes, new bed sheets, new curtains, a jewelry box, a fold-up chair, some posters, new shoes, and some notebooks. Her bedspread was navy blue with brown, black, and white hoops. She had matching curtains, and the fold-up chair was brown shag. She hung up the posters that the girls told her she just had to have which included an Eclipse movie poster, a Justin Bieber poster, and a Brad Pitt poster. Nanami didn't understand why she had to have these things, but she figured as long as Jiraiya saw something in there it really didn't matter.

"Hmm, it still looks like you're missing something." Naruto assessed.

"Oh yeah, like what?"

"Well. I don't know it just looks empty."

"So what does your room look like?"

"Come here, I'll show you."

Nanami followed him down the hall to his bedroom. As she first stepped inside she could understand why he felt hers looked empty. His room was a mess! There were clothes and games and everything else thrown around everywhere. Looking past the mess she could make out a bed, a desk, a dresser, and a bookshelf. The bed was unmade and littered with more clothes. The desk held notebooks, pencils, footballs, baseballs, and Nintendo DS games. The bookshelf held five books down near the bottom, the rest of the shelves were occupied by a TV and several different game systems, controllers, and disks. The dresser was the only thing not very cluttered and she could see that it held a couple of picture frames.

"Yes, I can see why mine looks different from yours: my bedroom is clean." Nanami clarified.

"What? It's not that bad." Naruto defended.

"Not that bad? I bet you don't even know what color your carpet is."

"Sure I do. It's brown."

"You have wood floors, moron. It was a trick question."

"I knew it was brown didn't I?"

"That's not the point!"

"You're just mad because my room is so much better than yours!"

"For a pig, maybe!"

They continued to yell back and forth like that for several minutes until they heard the door open downstairs. They stopped and leaned down the stairs until they could see Jiraiya walking in with pizza.

"Hey, if you two are hungry, I brought dinner." Jiraiya hollered at the two siblings.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered, pushing past Nanami to get to the pizza first. Nanami also made her way down the steps, though not nearly as quickly as her eager brother.

"So Nanami, how was shopping?" Jiraiya asked as she finally made it into the kitchen.

"Productive." Was her only reply.

"Good! Well, I talked to Tsunade, and you're in."

"I'm in?"

"Yeah, you start class Monday with Naruto."

"Oh" She replied, finally understanding.

"Oh man! You mean school starts Monday!" Naruto yelled from the living room while still chowing down on pizza.

"Yep, only five days left until summer vacation ends." Nanami summed up.

"We've got to go to the Hole one last time before school starts!" Naruto exclaimed before he ran off to grab his phone.

"What's the Hole?" she asked Jiraiya.

"The Hole is a place on the outskirts of town that all the kids hang out at during the summer. It's where I get a lot of research done that's for sure." He said his face lighting up as he said research.

Nanami could feel herself blush and wasn't about to ask what he was researching. She still hesitated before she picked up any papers lying around the house anymore.

"Oh and before I forget, I got you a couple of things."

"Really?" She asked her eyes wide with surprise. What else could he possibly do for her?

"Here I figured you wouldn't think about getting these while you were out shopping so I got them for you."

Nanami looked down at the two boxes in her hands. One was larger and had DELL written across it the other was small with a picture of a phone on the box. She couldn't believe it: Jiraiya had gone out and bought her a cell phone and a laptop. She looked up at him unsure of how to express her gratitude while tears began to form at the corners of her eyes.

"Stop it. It's no big deal, now why don't you run upstairs and set them up." He said waving her off.

She smiled and nodded as she gleefully ran back into her room. She could hardly contain her excitement as she pulled out the red Dell Studio and the purple Blackberry. She went through the initial set-up for both of her devices as Naruto burst into her room.

"Nanami! Don't plan anything for tomorrow; we're going to the Hole!"

She didn't know what she would possibly have planned for tomorrow, but she knew that there would be no way of getting out of this.

"Hey Nanami. Did you get new stuff?" He asked noticing her computer and cell phone.

"Yes." She announced proudly.

"Wow! I don't even have a laptop! Can I use yours sometime? Jiraiya's is usually…cluttered."

Nanami knew what he meant from the way he blushed and stammered causing her to blush as well.

"Yeah sure I don't see why not. But not when I'm using it and not unless you ask first." She established.

"Fine." Naruto grumbled.

"Oh, and let me get your number right now while you're here."

He told her the number and she saved it as her first contact. Naruto then proceeded to go down his contact list giving her Jiraiya and the all the guys' number from earlier. They chatted for a little while longer, and Nanami dug out her iPod that had died a long time ago finally able to plug it in. After that they compared songs and bands until Nanami could feel her eyelids droop.

Nanami was up at nine again the next morning, but this time it wasn't by her own choosing.

"Nanami, wake up! I don't want to be the last one there!" Naruto hollered in her ear while shaking her awake.

"Naruto, I guarantee that no one is there this early. And it's not such a bad thing to be late." She grumbled trying to hold on to the last bit of unconsciousness that Naruto was forcefully shaking out of her.

"C'mon will you just get up!" Naruto growled giving her one final shake.

Nanami groaned, finally opening her eyes. Naruto was already dressed in Hawaiian print orange swim trunks with a black tank top. He was wearing black flip-flops and sunglasses as well.

"Well aren't you the early bird." She teased.

"Just get ready. I told the guys we'd be there by ten."

"Is it even warm out at ten?" She replied back, but he was already out of her room.

She sighed and pulled back the covers. She supposed there was no arguing with Naruto when he was set on something. Luckily, the girls had convinced her to buy a swimsuit yesterday. Nanami pulled out the purple bikini with the brown and white design. It was sports bra style with short-like bottoms. She stared at it with aversion wondering if she couldn't get by with just sitting on the shore in a tank top and shorts. After contemplating the pros and cons for a little bit longer, she finally put on the suit with a white tank top and black shorts over it. She left her hair done up, found some flip-flops, and grabbed her duffel bag. She stuffed a couple of towels, sunscreen, her make-up bag, and a book in it. She also grabbed her iPod, phone, and billfold and put them in the side pocket. When she was finally ready she headed down the stairs to where Naruto was waiting in the living room.

"Finally, I thought you would never get done." He complained.

"Are you always like this? Strung out over every little thing?" She asked giving him an incredulous look.

"I'm not strung out over every little thing!" Naruto yelled back, proving the point further.

"Yes you are, Naruto." Jiraiya stated matter-of-factly.

Naruto crossed his arms and huffed from being ganged up on. Nanami rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Well I'm ready with five minutes to spare even."

Naruto didn't answer her, probably still smarting from earlier. Instead, he marched out to her car carrying his own bag. Nanami sighed again before she followed him saying goodbye to Jiraiya on the way out the door.

Nanami took her place in the driver's seat, and looked over to make sure her brother was ready before pulling out of the driveway.

"Alright where to?" She asked.

Naruto finally seemed to get over her earlier comment, and was eager to point out the way. Before long Nanami was driving down an old dirt trail with trees lining both sides. Nanami was starting to get nervous about her jeep as they bounced up and down on every bump in the road. Nanami came off of one bump and had to slam down on the brakes as she found herself in a dead end.

"Naruto, where the hell are we?" Nanami tried not to yell.

"We're here at the Hole!"

"Where? There's nothing here but trees!"

"Yeah, we'll have to walk the rest of the way. Just park next to those other cars." Naruto admitted, pointing to the left where Nanami did see three other cars much to her surprise.

Nanami didn't say anything mainly because she didn't know what to say. She was embarrassed that she hadn't noticed the other cars, and was surprised that there were more than just freshmen here. Maybe she would finally be able to meet some kids her own age. She parked behind the silver Porsche Cayman making sure there was still room for it to maneuver around the green Camry, and red single cab Chevy.

Nanami was practically drooling over the Porsche as she got out. Naruto, on the other hand, didn't even notice that she wasn't behind him as he took off running through the tall trees. When Nanami finally grabbed her stuff to go to the Hole, she had no idea which direction to go. She wasn't too worried though. How hard could it be to find a large group of teenagers?

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**Yay! Next week is fall break so I'm actually going to post two chapters next week, and possibly two chapters the week after that. By then we'll actually be getting into the main plot of the story. Sorry that it's taking so long! Thanks to everyone who has been reading and please review.**


	6. Chapter 6 Are You Lost?

**Sorry about the late update. It has been a surprisingly busy week for me, so I didn't get around to getting two chapters out. However, this one is the longest I've ever written so maybe it'll make up for it. I still don't own anything Naruto and enjoy!**

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**Chapter 6- Are You Lost?**

Nanami has done stupid stuff in her life, but walking without any sense of direction or guidance through a forest in search of a bunch of teenagers seemed to top the list. At first she was hopeful since she had seen the general direction Naruto had taken. However, as the path she took started looking more and more undisturbed, she felt that hope fall. She checked her phone for the thousandth time in case she suddenly had a signal. Just like before, no such luck.

She finally took a seat next to a large tree trying to consider her options before getting more lost. She had no service, had no idea where she was, and was pretty sure that no one else knew how to find her. She didn't think this forest would be this big, but after walking around for an hour she realized it was to the contrary. She figured she could retrace her steps and wait by the car, but she wasn't even sure where that was anymore.

Completely out of ideas, she laid her head back trying to enjoy scenery. The forest floor was pretty as it was bathed in a green glow from sunlight pouring down through the trees' leaves. Surprisingly, it was oddly quiet. She would have thought for sure that the birds would be chirping, or bugs buzzing around. Curious, she perked her head up for the slightest sound. That's when she heard distinct scratching noises. Maybe she wasn't alone.

Nanami carefully made her way toward the sound. Not even ten yards from where she was sitting she found a small clearing, but more importantly she found the source of the sound.

A young boy, probably Naruto's age, was leaned up against a tree, drawing on a large sketch pad. He wore a tight fitting white shirt with a black half shirt over it. He also wore gray skinny jeans that ended with splatter-painted cons. His hair was short and dark, but his bangs were held out of his pale face by a black sweat band. She didn't think he had noticed her so she tried to peek over his shoulder, curious about what he was drawing.

"I believe that it's proper to introduce yourself when meeting strangers." He stated simply not once looking up from his work.

Nanami was caught off guard by him saying something and by his strange choice of words.

"Um, yeah sure. I'm Nanami Uzumaki. What are you doing out here?"

"I also believe that it is proper to let the other introduce themself before you continue on with the rest of the conversation."

Nanami walked around the base of the tree to stare at the strange boy. She didn't know what he meant by things being proper.

"Okay so what's your name?" She decided to ask.

He smiled at her, but something about it seemed forced and fake. She really couldn't figure this guy out at all.

"My name is Sai." He offered getting up. "And since you have ruined the scene, I suppose I should be going now."

Nanami felt a twinge of annoyance at being blown off by the only person she had been able to find in this stupid forest.

"Well, sorry. I didn't know, but I need your help. You see I kinda got lost, and I don't know how to get back to the Hole or whatever."

"Why would you want to be in a hole if you're lost?"

Now Nanami really was flustered. "Look! I'm just trying to get back to my brother and his friends, so will you help me or not?"

"I'm sorry. I don't know where you're trying to go, and I don't normally talk to people twice my age."

Nanami was livid. Twice his age? What did he think she was, his mother's age? This stupid uptight monotone boy was the last person she wanted to turn to. However, since she was out of any other options she decided she had no choice.

"Hey! Obviously you know where you're going. I on the other hand, have no idea how to get back to my friends. All I'm asking for is a few minutes of your time." She replied through gritted teeth.

"I don't know if I'll lead you to any holes, but I suppose you can follow me back into town." He replied not even turning around.

"Whatever." Nanami grumbled.

She didn't try to start another conversation with Sai; instead she followed him at a distance with her arms crossed. She was a little curious about how he knew where he was going, but just the thought of listening to him made her angry again. She mostly admired the scenery as they walked, but the quiet was killing her. She then remembered that she had her iPod in her bag. The perfect solution to this horrible situation. She bent over to unzip her bag when everything fell out.

"Great, just great!" Nanami huffed. "Hey Sai, wait up a sec."

Nanami didn't look up to see if he stopped or not as she tried to shove all of her belongings back into her bag. She figured he had to have stopped since she didn't hear any footsteps, but then again he didn't come rushing over to offer his assistance. Nanami found her iPod strung out on the ground and reached up to put the ear buds in her ears when she heard a distinguished bark followed by a couple of shouts. Nanami lifted her head in that direction to hear it again closer this time. Almost out of nowhere, Akamaru came charging into the clearing followed by Kiba, Naruto, and a couple of people she hadn't met before.

"Hey, Nanami. Are you lost?" Kiba asked with a grin.

"How could you tell?" Nanami laughed.

She couldn't believe that they found her. She was so excited to see somebody she recognized, and now she would no longer have to follow Sai the World's Worst Guide. She suddenly remembered that she wasn't alone.

"Oh guys, this is Sai. He's the reason…I made it this far?" She finished uncertainly as she looked around finding a surprising lack of the anorexic artist.

"Um, what are you pointing at?" Kiba asked confused.

"Yes! It seems like being lost in the woods has become too much for this young woman! I will carry her the rest of the way!" The dark haired boy with bushy eyebrows in a one-piece old timey green swimsuit announced.

"Quit it Lee! Cut the poor girl a break!" The other person Nanami didn't recognize piped up. She was a girl with brunette hair pulled into two buns on the side of her head, a pink tank top, cut-off jean shorts, and a bright and smiling face.

"Nanami, you are acting a little crazy." Naruto pointed out.

Nanami's eyes finally shot to him. Her over eager, impatient, little brother who was the whole reason for her little trek in the first place. She felt her eyes narrow, and could see everyone else edge out of the line of her vision. Naruto started to look a little nervous, and tried to back up.

"I'm going to kill you." She let herself whisper through all of her pent up anger.

"Now let's not be hasty, I mean I thought you were right behind me after all." Naruto nervously tried to defend himself.

However, it was too late. Nanami lunged toward him, and he took the hint and started running. She gave chase making sure he never got out of sight this time. She was going to make her brother pay for ditching her. She had finally chased him toward a cliff. Perfect, now she had him cornered. Instead of stopping, though, he jumped right over the side.

Nanami panicked and threw away her childish ideas of revenge to save her brother. She dropped her bag and jumped over the edge after him. However, where she expected to be met with a dark endless chasm, she found herself next to a five foot waterfall that ended into a small lake below. This must be the Hole.

Nanami was submerged in the cool liquid, and kicked upward to fight her way back to the surface. The first thing she noticed after gasping in a lungful of air was all of the laughter around her. Then she heard splashing and turned to see Naruto breaking the surface not too far away from where she was. First things first, she reached over and dunked him back down into the water which increased the volume of the laughter. Then she swam over to the bank where all of Naruto's friends were laying.

Sakura and Ino were sitting in lawn chairs, sun tanning by the looks of it in their pink and purple bikinis. Then she saw Hinata in her purple one-piece sitting next to Choji who wore red swim trunks and a white T-shirt, and some boy she had never seen before, but who looked surprisingly like Hinata. They sat on a blanket surrounded by picnic baskets. Shikamaru, in green swim trunks, and Sasuke in black swim trunks that fit perfectly around his sculpted body were in the shallows of the lake.

"So I guess they found you." Sakura pointed out after she got her laughter under control.

"Yeah you would have thought Naruto had left you in the woods to die the way the girls were carrying on, it was such a drag." Shikamaru commented.

"Well what kind of moron leaves someone behind when they obviously would have no idea where they're going?" Ino yelled.

"Yeah, but Kiba's reaction was by far the funniest." Sasuke added with a smirk.

The girls started giggling at this. Nanami just blushed at having all the attention turned toward her again. She tried her best to pull her sopping wet body out of the water as casually as she could, but her tank top started to feel like it was weighed down with lead and her flip-flops refused to leave the muddy bottom.

"I guess I deserved that." Naruto exclaimed from the middle of the lake.

"Yeah, and you probably deserve this." Sasuke said, launching himself directly at Naruto with such ease and pose as he had a turn of dunking him as well.

Pretty soon everyone was diving in after Naruto until it was just Hinata, the other guy still sitting on the blanket. He looked like he was trying his best to ignore the nonsense going on around him by keeping his attention on his book, but Nanami could still see the hint of a smile that lingered from earlier.

"Na-Nanami, that was pretty impressive. Jumping off that cliff after Naruto, I mean." Hinata stated.

"Well, it was really just a determination to get to Naruto." Nanami tried to ride it off, not sure what was so impressive.

"And no one here blamed you after what he did." The boy chimed in.

Nanami really studied him from the same eyes as Hinata's to his long brown hair pulled into a loose ponytail, and the fact that he wasn't dressed in beach attire. In fact, he was wearing jeans and a black polo. Nanami didn't know whether she should introduce herself to him or not. Luckily, Hinata came with the save.

"Oh! Nanami, this is my cousin Neji."

"Nice to meet you." Nanami supplied while he merely nodded.

"Oh and that's Shino." Hinata added pointing to her other side.

That's when Nanami first noticed another body underneath the big tree. She had remembered them talking about another member of their group at the mall the other day. Shino was unlike anyone Nanami had ever seen before since she couldn't see anything about him. His entire body was hidden under a large black trench coat with a black fedora on top of his head and sunglasses that hid his eyes.

"So you're Nanami Uzumaki." He stated in a weird drawl.

"Uh-huh." Nanami nodded.

"How very odd." He commented.

She didn't know what he meant by that, but she didn't get a chance to ask before Kiba and the others finally made it back.

"Wow, when you go after somebody you really go all out." Kiba commented.

Nanami finally noticed that he was no longer wearing his hoodie giving her a clear view of his chocolate colored hair and his tan body that was only hidden behind a netted tank top and red swim trunks.

"I like to consider it giving him what he justly deserves." She replied back.

"Whatever it is, I hope I'm never on the receiving end." Kiba teased.

"A smart place to be." She teased back.

"Alright, enough flirting." Neji interjected looking up from his book annoyed.

Kiba's cheeks turned bright pink and he tried to excuse himself before taking off towards the water. Nanami could also feel her cheeks growing hot, but she just stood there dumbfounded.

"Neji, I cannot believe you would interrupt the power of true love like that." The eyebrow boy defended making Nanami blush deepen.

"Lee! Shut up, you're not helping the situation!" The girl with the brunette twin buns, and innocent face scolded.

"Forgive me, sweet Nanami. I did not mean to embarrass you. For doing so I will swim ten laps around the lake." The Lee kid said grabbing her hands in his before turning away toward the water.

Nanami just stood there wondering if red was going to be her natural skin color since she couldn't see it turning back anytime soon.

"I can't believe him! That idiot!" The girl yelled to no one in particular. "I'm so sorry about my two very inconsiderate friends. I'm Tenten by the way."

The girl extended her hand and Nanami shook it numbly.

Nanami was having trouble getting her emotions under control that mostly fell under the embarrassment column. That was when she felt a cold splash hit her face making her feel a ton better as well as shocking the hell out of her.

"What the-" Nanami called out looking for the source.

"F-forgive me, Nanami." Hinata apologized.

"You did that?" She asked, surprised by the younger girl.

"Y-yes. I have had enough experience with embarrassment to know when you need a cold splash in the face." Hinata tried to explain.

"Isn't that the truth." Neji piped up again.

"Could you be nice for just one minute?" Tenten asked incredulously.

"I was just stating the facts." Neji shrugged indifferent.

Tenten groaned, but not in an angry way. If anything it looked like she had a soft spot for the impassive boy. Nanami realized that she wasn't the only girl who had ever been put in awkward situations by Konoha boys, and she felt much better.

"It's alright Tenten. And thank you Hinata."

"Oh, we picked up your bag from the top of the hill too, Nanami." Tenten remembered handing her the duffle.

"Thanks." She said, looking around the clearing. "I suppose Sai didn't come with you?"

It was when she had her bag in hand that she remembered she had not been alone when her search party found her. Even though she couldn't stand the creep, that didn't mean she had to ditch him like that.

"There you go with that name again. When we found you, there was no one else there." Tenten told her shaking her head.

Nanami just stared at her. So that's what they all meant earlier. They thought she had made Sai up.

"No, really. I met this artist named Sai. He was showing me the way out of the woods when you guys showed up."

Everyone on the shore just stared at her like she was crazy. Even Neji had one eyebrow raised over the top of his book.

"It's not unusual to find others in these woods. Possibly some that don't want to be found." Shino spoke up in her defense. "Although, usually those are the people you don't want to attract their attention."

Tenten gave her the "exhibit A" look that added to her argument. Nanami just sighed knowing when she was beat.

"I know what I saw." Was the last word she said, and everyone followed suit.

Nanami realized that she was still sopping wet and reluctantly removed her tank top and shorts. Tenten had taken her place beside Neji on the blanket who was completely oblivious to anything outside of his book once more.

"See I told you that would look cute." Ino told her walking up from behind.

Nanami turned around and realized everyone was coming back in. Sakura and Ino led the pack approving their choice in her swimwear. Choji was next, his gaze never leaving the picnic basket next to Hinata. Then came Shikamaru and Sasuke who gave her the once over making Nanami feel a little too revealing. Kiba glanced in her direction, turned pink again, and made his way to the edge of the campsite. Nanami felt bad knowing that he was still smarting from the embarrassing situation earlier, but she wasn't sure she could offer any kind of comfort right then.

Lee came in next which surprised Nanami. This was a pretty good sized body of water that he supposedly did ten laps around. However, it seemed that his attention was elsewhere as he followed faithfully after Sakura. Then, finally, her dear little brother crawled up the bank before her.

"We're even now right?" Naruto asked nervously.

As much as Nanami wanted to leave him in the dark or get him back again, she realized that he had suffered enough. After all, he did look a little blue from all of the dunks he had received within the last ten minutes.

"I guess, for now." She grinned wickedly.

Then again, it was totally fun messing with him. He edged away from her nervously over to Kiba since he was the farthest point away.

"So Nanami, are you going to Konoha High?" Tenten asked bringing her attention back to the group seated on the blanket.

"Yep, I'll be a junior." Nanami answered.

"No way!" Tenten exclaimed, lighting up. "That's awesome! You won't believe how few girl friends I have in my grade."

Neji looked like he was going to say something to this, but Tenten stared him down. He quickly closed his mouth.

"So you're a junior too?" Nanami asked, excited to finally find someone her own age.

"Yeah, me, Neji, and Lee."

"That's so awesome, I was scared I would start Monday not knowing anyone in my class."

Tenten laughed. "Trust me, I understand. Neji, Lee, and I have been friends for so long I don't even talk to anyone else in our grade. It'll be so great having a girl friend in my classes."

"Tenten, are Neji and I not doing a good enough job as your friends?" Lee asked hurt.

"You guys are the best. I just need girl time sometimes." She assured him.

"So what are we, chopped liver?" Sakura asked gesturing to her, Ino, and Hinata.

"I didn't realize I was going to start so much trouble! I was just excited to have Nanami in my class!" Tenten yelled aggravated.

Nanami started laughing. She really liked Tenten, and knew exactly what she meant. As much fun as she had with the younger girls yesterday, sometimes two years was a huge maturity gap. Everyone really started chatting then. Nanami was learning about what school was like and what everyone liked to do. It seemed so weird that such a huge group of people would get along together like this when they were all so different. Nanami was surprised to learn, when she brought this up, that it was mostly through their connection to Naruto that they all knew each other.

Nanami really enjoyed hanging out with everybody, and was disappointed when the sun finally started to set. Everyone had started gathering up their belongings and headed toward the path that Naruto had taken when he left Nanami in the dust. Nanami noticed that the green Camry belonged to Lee, the truck to Tenten, and surprise, surprise, the Porsche belonged to Neji.

Hinata got in with Neji; Lee refused to let Sakura walk home and she wouldn't go with him without Ino or Sasuke. Shikamaru lived by Tenten so he and Choji caught a ride with her. That left Kiba and Shino.

"Do you guys want a ride?" Nanami offered.

"Alright." Kiba agreed while Shino merely shrugged.

She wondered how he wasn't dying in that coat, but didn't say anything. Naruto claimed shotgun and the other two got in the back. She asked how to get to their houses and took off, following their directions. Nobody said a whole lot, because of how exhausted they were from spending a whole day out in the sun. Nanami got to Shino's house and he thanked her for the ride as he got out. Then it was on to Kiba's. Within five minutes, he was also saying his good-byes.

"Hey Kiba." Nanami stopped him, surprising even herself.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"Thanks for finding me." She told him, shyly.

He smiled at her for the first time since Neji's comment. "Anytime. So I'll catch you Monday?"

"Count on it." With that she finally let him walk towards his house with Akamaru in tow.

"What was that?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What? I was just being nice." Nanami defended although her blush said it all.

"Yeah, right. Do you like Kiba?" He continued, scrunching up his nose thinking about his sister together with one of his best friends.

"Not like that." She denied.

"Good, because that would be way weird." He sighed in relief.

"Yeah, it would." She agreed quietly.

She didn't feel that way about Kiba, did she? Of course he had helped her out twice now, but that didn't mean anything. That just made him a really good friend. However, no matter how many times Nanami tried talking herself out of it; she couldn't help but want to get to know Kiba more. She pushed these thoughts aside, her first and foremost priority was getting through her first day of high school Monday. With having all these friends, it looked like this was becoming a more achievable goal every day.

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**Finally! As much as I've loved these chapters so far, I've been itching to get into the high school aspect of the story. So the next chapter in the first day and the introduction to Nanami's other love interest. Sorry if you thought it was going to be Sai, because it's not. Thank you for reading so far, and I've been itching to get some reviews so don't be afraid to send them!**


	7. Chapter 7 Why Does High School Have to B

**Wow sorry about the late update. It's been a crazy week! And I didn't get two chapters in, but I'm hoping things will settle down enough for me to do it later. Also, I've finally made it! We are now officially in high school and the plot will be heating up! Thanks to everybody for reading, and I still don't own anything Naruto.**

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**Chapter 7- Why Does High School Have to Be Complicated?**

Nothing much went on in the days following the events at the Hole. Mostly Nanami hung out in her room going down the stairs only to watch TV or cook for the boys. Naruto was just as lethargic as if the mere thought of school starting up was tiring him out.

Sunday night Nanami set out what she was going to wear the next day and packed up her supplies in her tote. After she was satisfied that all of the necessary preparations were made, Nanami let her nerves take over. This would be her first time to actually attend a public high school. When she lived in Kumo, she was homeschooled by her foster parents. It wasn't that bad, but she really did get tired of not being able to play sports or go to dances. Plus, she actually would have real friends other than her foster siblings.

Nanami woke up an hour earlier than her alarm and realized she was not going to be able to go back to sleep. She went ahead and hopped in the shower wondering why she woke up so early. She knew that she had been anxious, but there had been something in her dream that had awoken her. She just couldn't remember what it was now.

Nanami started getting ready by putting her hair up in its usual way, and then putting on the clothes she put out the night before which included black Capri, a blue fitted shirt and a white jeans jacket over that. School didn't start until eight and it was only seven now. She went ahead and made breakfast for her and the other two. Apparently, Jiraiya worked part-time at the school so he should be getting up pretty soon too.

For the most part it was pretty quiet as Nanami fried eggs and bacon. She desperately wished she could remember her dream so she knew what upset her so bad. Nanami heard a big flop from upstairs and knew Naruto was awake. She could also hear the shuffling of feet from Jiraiya's room. Within the next couple of minutes both of the boys rushed into the kitchen taking their usual spots at the table.

"So what do have for us today?" Jiraiya asked eagerly.

"Nothing special, just eggs, bacon, and toast if you want it."

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto yelled excitedly.

Nanami dished out the food and took her own spot at the table.

"Are you excited about today?" Jiraiya asked

"No!" Naruto answered immediately

"I guess I'm more nervous." Nanami admitted.

"That explains why you're up so early. Probably had a pretty sleepless night, right?" Jiraiya asked.

Nanami nodded her head and thought about telling him that it was because of her dream. However, she quickly dismissed the idea since she didn't even remember what it was about anyways.

"How much longer do you need to get ready, Naruto?" Nanami asked her younger brother.

"I don't know. Just going to throw on a T-shirt and shorts, then brush my teeth." He shrugged.

"A T-shirt and shorts on the first day of school?"

"Yeah. It's also the first day of practice so that way I won't have to change."

"You're supposed to look nice on the first day."

"I've never heard of that."

"Can't you at least put on some jeans?"

"What's the point?"

"To look halfway decent!"

"Alright you two, knock it off." Jiraiya intervened. "Naruto listen to your sister."

"What? You always take her side!" Naruto complained.

"That's because I'm usually always right."

"It's because you're always picky."

"What was that?"

I said-"

"ENOUGH!" Jiraiya yelled. "Geez, you two fight worse than an old married couple. Naruto, hurry up so your sister isn't waiting for you all day."

Naruto looked like he was going to say something else, but one look from Jiraiya and he hustled into action. Jiraiya went back to his room to finish getting ready, and Nanami cleared the table. As she took the plates over the sink she noticed the huge pile of dishes. She was going to have to clean them, again for the umpteenth time since she had been there. When everyone gets home tonight, Nanami is going to sit them down to divvy up chores. She was tired of being the only one who cared about how this house looked all of the time.

Finally, Naruto was ready with ten minutes til eight. Nanami just knew that they were going to be late for the first day of school.

"Hurry, Naruto! I don't want to be late!" Nanami complained from inside Little Red.

Naruto took his precious time sauntering up to the jeep. Probably pay back for making him wear jeans, and he even took the effort to put on a black vest over his orange T-shirt.

"It's just down the street. Quit getting in a twit."

Nanami knew that he was right, so she took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Then, as soon as he closed the door she flew down the street.

Nanami pulled into the school parking lot with two minutes to spare. All of the other kids were inside already, and Naruto was also making his way inside.

"Well I guess I'll see ya." He told her as he headed off towards the building probably with a pretty good idea of where his classes were.

"Wait! Where am I supposed to go?"

"I dunno, the office?"

Nanami knew he was going to be no help whatsoever so she let him go on to his class. She decided she would try the office which, luckily, was right next to the front door. A younger woman than Nanami expected was seated behind the secretary's desk. She wore a plain blue dress with black heels. Her dark hair was cropped right below her ears.

"Hello, my name is Shizune, can I help you?" She asked.

"Um, I hope so. My name is Nanami Uzumaki and I was going to pick up my class schedule."

"Yes, of course. The counselor, Mr. Umino has it. His room is two doors down on the right."

"Okay, thank you." Nanami replied gratefully.

"Not a problem, I hope you have a great year at Konoha High."

Nanami thanked her once more and then followed her instructions to the counselor's office. She found it no problem, and he was more than happy to point her out to her first class which was math. Apparently, he and Naruto were very close since he constantly asked her questions about her brother the whole way to the classroom. She answered them to the best of her ability and made a mental note to ask Naruto how he was on such good terms with the counselor.

He finally got her to the classroom and she noticed through the window that the teacher had already started lecturing.

"Oh no. I am late aren't I?" She asked Mr. Umino.

"Just by a few minutes. But don't worry. Most teachers cut the new students a break. I'm just sorry you're schedule starts you off with Ms. Mitarashi's math class. It can be pretty tough."

"That's alright. I'm usually pretty good at math."

"That's good, you'll probably be just fine. I'll introduce you to the class, and then maybe you can get some of the other students to point out your next classes to you."

"Okay thank you."

Mr. Umino opened the door causing everyone to peer up at Nanami. She tried her hardest not to blush in front of everyone, but she really hated having everyone's eyes on her.

"Sorry to interrupt Anko, but this is Nanami Uzumaki. She's new to Konoha and supposed to be in this class." Mr. Umino said kindly.

"Iruka! Do you always have to interrupt during the middle of my lectures?" The teacher yelled addressing Mr. Umino.

Nanami gulped when her eyes turned to her. Maybe Mr. Umino meant that having Ms. Mitarashi first thing would be tough, rather than having math at that time.

"Uzumaki, huh? Well find a seat. I think I see one next to Gaara." Ms. Mitarashi pointed out.

Nanami turned her gaze over to the red-headed boy wearing the maroon turtleneck and black fedora as he regarded her with a look of indifference. Nanami made her way over to his table while trying not to focus on the eyes and whispers as she passed. His table was in the middle of the room and when Nanami finally found her seat, Ms. Mitarashi had already resumed her speech.

"Hi, I'm Nanami." She offered the boy.

"So I heard." He whispered in a low voice.

Nanami didn't know what to say at that point. She kind of expected him to offer his name, or say nice to meet you. She averted her gaze back to the front trying to see if she could spot Tenten, Neji, or Lee.

"What's your relation with Naruto?" Gaara asked her.

"What?" She asked not expecting him to say anything again.

He sighed almost as if it would hurt him to have to repeat himself.

"Naruto Uzumaki. How do you know him?" He tried again.

"Oh, he's my brother." She explained. He frowned at this.

"Naruto doesn't have any siblings."

"Yeah, well, it's complicated. How do you know Naruto?"

"It's complicated." He waved off in the same manner she had earlier.

She stared intently at Gaara. He didn't look like someone who would hang out with Naruto, but then again her brother had some very different friends. He noticed her gaze.

"Can I help you with something?" He asked in an irritated tone.

"I'm just trying to figure out how a junior like you would know my brother."

"I'm not a junior."

Nanami was surprised by this.

"This is a junior math class, right?" She asked afraid she was in the wrong room even though Mr. Umino had shown her the way personally.

"Yes, but I'm only a sophomore."

"Really? How did you get in an upper level class?" Nanami asked genuinely interested.

"I tested out of the other class." He answered simply.

Nanami interest was starting to peak. Gaara was handsome and smart even though he was indifferent and slightly cold.

"Ahem. I realize that you're new, but perhaps you would rather pay attention to my fascinating lecture on logarithms instead of socializing with your new deskmate." Ms. Mitarashi addressed Nanami.

Nanami noticed Gaara sit up straighter as if trying to make up for being in trouble.

"Yes, ma'am" Nanami answered also turning to face the front.

She heard some snickering from the other students. Nanami felt herself blushing now, not realizing that her innocent conversation had been so distracting. Every once in awhile she could feel Gaara's eyes slide over to her, but he never gave her his full attention. She was actually pretty surprised that Ms. Mitarashi had started lessons on the first day, but she copied down notes as fast as she could anyways. Finally, the bell rang.

"Alright, no homework tonight my lovelies. However, tomorrow we start getting serious." Ms. Mitarashi gave as final words. Almost as if an hour of logs was the easiest thing in the world. Maybe this would be a tough class after all.

Gaara had already gathered up his things in his khaki messenger bag, and was headed out the doorway before Nanami even closed her book.

"Hey, hold on a sec!" She hollered at him.

He slowed down and turned around giving her an incredulous look. Nanami was suddenly intimidated.

"Um, I was wondering if you could show me to my next class?" She asked in a pleading tone.

For a second she was worried that he would try to blow her off like Sai did to her in the woods. If he was real since she still didn't have that one figured out yet.

"Fine. What do you have?"

Excited to get some help Nanami quickly whipped out her schedule. She had Algebra first hour, Computers second hour, History third hour, Art fourth hour, lunch, Chemistry fifth hour, English sixth hour, and Athletics seventh hour. Nanami noticed her electives for the first time. Obviously, Jiraiya had never seen her draw if he put her in art.

"Looks like I have computers next." Nanami informed him.

"It's down that hall on the left side, room 210." He pointed out.

"Thanks." She told his retreating form.

For whatever reason she didn't want to leave it at that.

"You know we red-heads should stick together." She hollered teasingly at him.

She started feeling very self-conscious as a couple of kids passing by stared at her. Gaara himself even hesitated, but he didn't turn back around to face her. Nanami realized that was probably the lamest thing she could have possibly said, and she slowly retreated toward her next class wondering if she had a new friend or an enemy.

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**Okay in case you haven't guessed it yet, Gaara is the second player in Nanami's love life. It probably wasn't overly obvious, but they did just meet. Tell me what you think so far!**


	8. Chapter 8 Don't I Know You?

**Sorry about the late update. I know I said every Tuesday, but I also used words like "try" and "we'll see". I was basically setting myself up for failure, but here's the new chapter and not that late. Thank you to everybody who's been keeping up with my story. I really appreciate knowing that I have people out there enjoying my work. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Naruto.**

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**Chapter 8- Don't I Know You?**

Nanami found her next class no problem thanks to Gaara's instructions. She was still kind of smarting from her last comment, but she guessed that's what she gets for opening her mouth. Luckily, she found Tenten in a pink sleeveless blouse with red shorts in her next class and they finally had a chance to talk.

"So that was it and he just walked away?" She asked after Nanami spilled what had happened to her that morning.

"Yeah. Pretty crazy, huh?" Nanami agreed.

"You are just a magnet for strange boys!" Tenten teased.

Nanami just laughed along with her friend. She was relieved to know that she shared Computers, History, Art, and Chemistry with her. However, with as athletic as Tenten looked Nanami was surprised to learn that she didn't play any sports. She was apparently a very talented singer and had dedicated herself to the vocal and the arts.

Tenten led Nanami to History where she found Lee and Neji. They all sat next to each other and chatted for a little bit. Neji was wearing a brown polo and a pair of jeans. Lee was wearing a funky looking green jumpsuit that tightly hugged his body. As much as Nanami liked hanging out with them, she couldn't help but wonder about the freshmen who she had grown so close too. History was over with quicker then Computers and Tenten led Nanami to the only class she dreaded: Art.

"Oh come on, Nanami. They can't be that bad." Tenten tried to reassure her about her drawings.

"You really don't understand. I make stick people look bad." Nanami admitted.

At this point they had reached the door to the room.

"Just try it this first week and if you need to transfer-"

"YOU!" Nanami nearly screamed after studying her classmates cutting Tenten off.

A bunch of kids jumped staring up at her, but for the first time in her life she didn't worry about them. Sitting right there at the front of the room was none other than Sai. He hadn't looked up from what he was doing, and he probably didn't hear her come in. Nanami raced over to his table taking the seat across from him glaring to get him to look up at her. Tenten had followed Nanami uncertainly over to the table and sat in the seat next to her.

"You know this guy, Nanami?" She asked.

"Know him? This is the guy who left me for dead in the woods that one day." She explained to Tenten finally catching Sai's attention.

"Well hello, I would have assumed you had graduated years ago. Did you fall into the hole you were looking for?" He spoke up giving Nanami that weird smile again.

Tenten looked like she was trying hard not to laugh, while Nanami sat there fuming.

"As a matter of fact I did, although you would have known if you had bothered to wait up." She retorted.

"Well it looks like it all worked out in the end." He ended the conversation.

Nanami would have said something back, but the teacher walked in and Nanami didn't want to get in trouble again for talking.

The teacher, who let the students call her by her first name of Kurenai, gave them the assignment to use whatever median they wanted to draw how they perceived the world. Nanami thought that this was the dumbest assignment in history since she had no idea what to draw. She stared down at the blank piece of paper before her. Luckily, Tenten distracted.

"So you weren't making him up." Tenten whispered over to her.

Nanami felt a smug grin coming across her face thinking about how everyone had teased her about Sai that day. Did she have a surprise for them come lunch.

"Yeah, it's funny how that works. I say I saw somebody in the woods, and here he is alive and breathing." I poked back.

"Oh, shut up! There wasn't anyone standing there! What were we supposed to think?"

"I don't know you could have trusted me."

"I didn't even know you. You're lucky I didn't think you were completely wacko."

Nanami didn't have anything to reply back to that since was probably true. So instead she stuck her tongue out at Tenten.

"Aren't we real mature?" She joked back, laughing.

"So what are you drawing?" Nanami asked trying to get an idea.

"It's the music room I practice in." She responded as Nanami could clearly make out a baby grand piano.

"Wow, that's really good." Nanami commented.

"Your shading in poorly executed on the right side." Sai piped up, not even removing his eyes from his work.

"Oh yeah, well what are you working on?" Nanami sneered back, rolling her eyes.

She tried to look over the table, but Sai quickly covered up his work.

"Nothing that would be appreciated by you I sure." He responded.

Even though it was an emotionless response, Nanami instantly felt bad. Maybe she had been a little too hard on him. Then again he did insult her and leave her in a forest she knew nothing about. Still she didn't press him again to show his work. Instead, she went back to wondering what she was going to do for her picture.

At that moment the bell rang, thankfully getting Nanami out of this stupid art project, for now. They would get all week to work on it, and Nanami was pretty sure she was going to have to switch classes. She was not artistic or creative at all.

"So do you want to go off campus or head over to the cafeteria?" Tenten asked her as they left the classroom.

"We can go off campus?" Nanami asked.

"Yup, just juniors and seniors though." She responded.

"Oh." Nanami slumped a little. "Well, let's go to the cafeteria today. I haven't had a chance to see the freshmen yet."

"That's fine." Tenten agreed.

"Oh, and one more thing. You're coming with us." Nanami said grabbing Sai by the arm much to everyone's surprise.

Sai tried to protest, but Nanami wasn't listening. She was too busy following Tenten and scanning the people around her. She hadn't seen any of the freshmen yet and she desperately wanted to prove that she didn't make Sai up. Finally, Tenten led them to the cafeteria doors with Nanami and Sai on her heels.

Nanami was surprised by the massive amount of students in front of her. She hadn't realized Konoha High was so big. Despite the dull roar sounding from the constant noise everyone continued to create, Nanami heard Naruto's distinguishable voice and found him sitting with the other freshmen at a table towards the front of the room.

Excited, Nanami marched over towards them locking Sai's arm with hers to prevent his escape.

"Why are you doing this?" He finally asked her.

"Because my brother and his friends didn't believe that you were real." Nanami grumbled.

"They didn't think I was a real person?" Sai clarified amusement lighting his normally monotone voice.

"Yeah, yeah. Just shut up. This won't take that long and then you can go annoy someone else."

"Hey Nanami!" Naruto hollered as they finally reached the table. "Who's your friend?"

"Everyone, this is Sai. The guy I was telling you about at the Hole." Nanami announced loudly.

Everyone at the table went silent. Naruto was surprised, Sasuke and Shikamaru looked uninterested, Choji didn't even look up, the girls were sizing him up, Shino was expressionless, and Kiba had a slight tent of anger.

"So he wasn't imaginary?" Sakura finally asked.

"Nope, I was just as surprised as you guys." Tenten piped up from behind Nanami.

Nanami jumped a little forgetting that she was back there.

"I guess we owe you an apology." Naruto smiled rubbing the back of his head.

"I suppose you do." Nanami declared in mock hurt.

"Please, you started thinking he wasn't real yourself." Sasuke threw out there.

"Nobody asked you!" Nanami yelled defensively.

"Then that means you're the one who just ditched her, right?" Kiba clarified still upset about something.

"Correct. Although I would hardly call it ditching when I never confirmed that I was going to lead her out." Sai finally spoke up.

"You know, you've got a lot of nerve!" Kiba yelled at him.

Nanami was completely surprised by the outburst. "Kiba, calm down. This is just the way Sai is."

Everyone turned toward Nanami surprised that she was defending him. She was even shocked that she defended him, but she was the one who led him over there. She would feel guilty about throwing someone to the lions, even if they're as rude as Sai.

"Thank you, Nanami. I suppose wisdom does come with age. Of course it helps when you're twenty years ahead of everyone else." Sai smiled.

Nanami turned red and glared at the group as they tried their best not to laugh. Snickers were loudest from Sasuke and Shikamaru. Screw guilt, Nanami was ready to offer Sai up on a silver platter.

"Well thank you Sai, but why don't you go draw yourself your own hole and fall in it. Hopefully, somewhere far away from here." Nanami growled.

"Or you can sit with us." Ino offered.

Nanami shot her a glare, but she didn't pay attention.

"Yeah, we don't mind." Sakura encouraged.

Everyone else looked at her like they would mind, but of course Miss Sunshine had to open her mouth.

"That's quite alright. I'll find another place. Thank you Nanami for introducing me to your mediocre and ragtag group of friends." Sai ended taking his leave.

Everyone watched after him in silence. Then all at once everyone had to give their opinions.

"I don't like him." Naruto grumbled.

"Who did he think he was?" Kiba snapped.

"Mediocre and rag-tag?" Sasuke questioned with one raised eyebrow.

"Poor guy." Ino sighed.

"What a jerk." Sakura scoffed.

"Quickly, let's leave before they notice we're gone." Tenten whispered to Nanami.

Nanami laughed realizing that the freshmen could be overwhelming when they were all provoked as she remembered the first day they all met in the mall. She shook her head and followed Tenten over to the lunch line. Nanami had heard terrors about cafeteria food, but was pleasantly surprised to be able to distinguish what each dish was.

"Are you sure you don't want to go off somewhere?" Tenten asked pleadingly.

"I'm fine where I'm at, but if you want to go find Neji and Lee you don't have to stick around for me." Nanami confirmed figuring out exactly what she was after.

"Really? Are you sure?" Tenten double checked as both relief and guilt lit her face.

"Yes I'm sure."

"Okay then. I'll catch you in Chemistry." Tenten waved as she backed out towards the doors.

Nanami turned her attention back to what she was going to get, and decided upon a hamburger, fries, and a pudding cup. She picked up her tray and was going to go over to Naruto's group when someone else caught her eye. Not too far away was the red-head from earlier content with leaning against the table reading a book. His fedora covering up his stunning green eyes.

Nanami was torn between sitting with her friends and trying to talk to Gaara again. She was never one for bravery and the idea of him making fun of her last comment scared her. Of course he was sitting by himself. Nanami's decision was made for her when Naruto careened over to the table. Curious she made her way over there wondering once again what their connection was.

"Hey Gaara! Long time, no see." Naruto said slapping Gaara on the back.

Gaara looked up surprised and Nanami thought momentarily that he would snap at Naruto. However, he actually smiled and looked genuinely pleased to see Naruto.

"Naruto, it is also a pleasure to see you again."

Nanami stopped a couple of feet away wondering if she should interrupt the two oddly matched friends. She decided to turn around and go back to the freshmen when Naruto noticed her.

"Nanami! Come here, I want you to meet someone. And trust me, he's much better than who you brought over." Naruto remarked dryly.

"Actually Gaara and I have already met." She blushed as Gaara turned around and blushed.

"Really how?" Naruto asked eagerly.

Nanami went ahead and sat down figuring it wouldn't be that bad as long as Naruto dictated the conversation.

"How about you tell me how you two know each other?" She prompted.

"She's in my math class." Gaara jumped in answering Naruto's question before Naruto could answer hers.

"Awesome. You really are a genius." Naruto nudged Gaara.

"Gaara, did I mention Nanami was my sister?" Naruto piped up again as Gaara tried to cover up his blush from being called a genius.

"I thought you told me that you didn't have any family?"

"Well actually-"

"I told him this morning that we were siblings." Nanami blurted out.

Both boys looked at her quizzically, but she merely raised an eyebrow at Gaara. If he wanted to play that game, he would find out that she was definitely a worthy opponent. He smirked realizing that she wasn't going to give up her secret if he wasn't going to give up his.

"Great!" Naruto commented back forgetting that he was fixing to say something to Gaara.

"Hey Naruto! Choji said he's going to eat the rest of your cake if you don't get back over here!" Kiba hollered over to their table.

"Hey I was saving that!" Naruto yelled running back over to the freshmen.

Kiba gave Nanami a last glance before getting pulled back into the conversation. Nanami found herself shaking her head at the crazy freshmen.

"You could go back over there if you want." Gaara commented already becoming absorbed in his book again.

"I'd much rather stay here and perhaps get the answer to the question you refused to let Naruto respond to." Nanami brought up.

"So you did catch that." He smirked.

"I'm not an idiot." She retorted.

"No, but I suppose you are a hypocrite." He said finally looking her in the eye.

"What do you mean by that?" Nanami asked unsure as to what he was referring to.

"Well your distraction from my question wasn't what I would call subtle."

Nanami frowned knowing that he was right. Of course hers was just retaliation. He was the one who refused to give up the information.

"Fine, if you tell me how you know Naruto. Then I'll tell you how I suddenly appeared out of the blue."

"How about we make it interesting? First one to find out the other's story gives that person their math homework for a month." He smiled evilly.

Nanami's interest peaked. "Are there any rules to this challenge?"

"We can't go to Naruto for the answer."

"This sounds like fun. Alright, I accept." Nanami agreed smugly.

"Very well then. So you are an A student right? I can't afford to let my grade slip."

"Don't be so confident already. You have no idea who you're messing with."

"Really, and who is that?" Gaara asked innocently.

"Nanami Uzumaki and you're not tripping me up that easily." Nanami caught herself before she mentioned anything else.

"What about you smart guy? Did you skip a year?"

Gaara smirked already returning his gaze to his book.

"If that's the best you've got then this contest is already decided."

Nanami admired Gaara's confidence. She normally didn't like people who were cocky, but there was something entrancing about Gaara. Before she could make another response the bell rang, and Gaara jumped up to go to his next class. Nanami stared down at her half eaten plate wondering where the time went. She sighed and deposed of the rest of her lunch before moving on to her next class.

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**Who do you think is going to win? Review and tell me what you think! I can't guarentee that'll be the winner, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say. That really goes for the entire chapter. In fact, just review period. Thanks again for reading!**


	9. Chapter 9 What Are You Doing Friday?

**So it's not Tuesday, but be glad I was able to update at all. In fact, I've had this chapter written for a week now just haven't had the time to post it. But here you go don't forget to review.**

**I don't own anything Naruto.**

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**Chapter 9- What are you doing Friday?**

Nanami went to Chemistry with her stomach growling from lack of attention at lunch. She walked in expecting to find a place next to Tenten but found that she had been replaced with Neji. Now the only open seat was next to Lee.

"Nanami, I missed seeing your youthful face at lunch." Lee announced as soon as she sat down.

"Yeah, I ate in the cafeteria." Nanami explained.

"Oh I see. Enjoying the youthfulness of our younger friends can be quite stimulating."

"Okay, sure Lee." Nanami answered unsurely.

"I know one _friend_ who she had probably wanted to see in particular." Neji commented from in front of them.

"Oh Neji, cut her a break." Tenten complained.

"Yes Neji. It is not nice to poke fun of our friend's infatuation with Kiba." Lee objected as well.

Nanami blushed. "Why do you guys always come back to this subject?"

"Because it's the truth." Neji told her cockily.

"Well, for your information, you're wrong. I sat with Gaara today." Nanami declared triumphantly.

Lee gasped and Neji and Tenten looked shocked.

"With Gaara, Gaara Sabuku?" Neji asked incredulously.

"That is too cute!" Tenten squealed.

"Wait, you know him?" Nanami asked Neji.

"I've seen his work, but not firsthand." He growled looking towards Lee.

Nanami looked toward Lee surprised by Neji's words. She didn't understand what he meant by 'Gaara's work'. When she looked at Lee she saw that his smile was gone and his eyes were downcast. Nanami was surprised by Lee's uncharacteristic behavior. She wondered if maybe Lee knew something about Gaara that she didn't.

"Lee, how do you know Gaara?" Nanami asked softly.

"It's not something I want to talk about." He answered back.

Nanami looked to Neji for help since he obviously knew something, but he shot her an angry look and faced the front. Nanami looked at Tenten, but she only shrugged showing that she didn't know anything more than Nanami. Nanami sighed, winning the bet was going to be pretty hard if everyone knew something that nobody was telling.

Somehow the four of them had managed to have that entire conversation without attracting any other attention from the rest of the class or the teacher. Once Chemistry ended, Nanami went on to English with Mr. Hatake which was boring. She didn't share this class with any of her friends, and she had yet to meet anyone else. Finally, after an eternity, the bell rang for Athletics.

Nanami headed over to the gym wondering whether she should have brought clothes to dress out in. As soon as she saw who the teacher was, she knew that she was screwed. Ms. Anko Mitarashi, the only teacher to actually teach on the first day, was her coach.

"Well, Uzumaki, isn't it? Kinda surprised to see you here. What sports do you play?"

"Never played before although I was going to try basketball." Nanami admitted.

"Never played, huh? Well we'll see if you're any good. Suit up!" She hollered at her.

"But I don't have any workout clothes, ma'am." Nanami protested.

"Don't worry we'll find you something." She grinned mischievously.

Nanami should have known that this wouldn't be easy. Somehow Ms. Mitarashi, or Coach Anko as she liked to be called in the gym, managed to find a set of warm-ups that barely fit and stunk to high heaven. Nanami felt like taking a long hot shower just looking at them. Unfortunately, she complied with Coach Anko's wishes and dressed out for class. Ten minutes later, Nanami was ready to get this class over with.

"Okay let's have a couple of warm-up laps around the gym. Then we can start try-outs for basketball. If you were going out for volleyball, then too bad. Practice for them started a month ago."

Nanami noticed a couple of disappointed girls walk out right then. She was starting to get the feeling that maybe she should have faked it and left while she still had the chance.

"Anybody else? Good, let's get started." Anko hollered, signaling for them to start running.

Nanami wasn't that bad an athlete. It was just being homeschooled for most of her life meant that she hadn't been able to participate in school activities like basketball. So she knew that she was surprising Anko just being at the front of the pack as she ran by.

"Nanami!"

Nanami turned around to see Sakura and Ino waving at her not too far back. Nanami slowed her pace just enough for them to catch up with her.

"Hey Nanami! We didn't know you would be in this class." Sakura told her with a slight pant.

"Yeah, I was kind of surprised myself to see that Jiraiya enrolled me in Athletics." Nanami agreed.

"So you're trying out for basketball too?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, I thought I might as well."

"Well good luck." They both told her as she thanked them back.

Finally, Anko called them back into center court.

"Okay, darlings, let's see how you handle a basketball. We're going to play a quick game of bubble. You all will be dribbling the ball while trying to knock out someone else's. If you lose control of the ball, you're out. I'll be watching and taking notes. If everyone's ready, begin!"

They all ran over and got a basketball and started dribbling. Nanami got herself in a rhythm and left herself free to scope the floor. Already a ton of girls were out. Nanami stayed focused and succeeded in escaping a girl's swipe for her ball. She turned around and knocked that girl's ball out while she was off balance. Then Nanami went in search of another victim. It continued like this until the numbers dwindled down to ten, then four, and finally it was Nanami against a girl with four blonde pigtails.

"You're not half-bad." The girl admitted.

"Thanks, you're pretty good too." Nanami told her waiting for an opportunity to swipe her ball.

"You're Nanami Uzumaki, right?" She asked.

"Yeah."

"And your brother is Naruto Uzumaki?"

"Yeah."

"But you guys haven't lived together your whole life?"

Nanami furrowed up her brows. She had no idea why her personal life was so important to this girl, and especially when they were in the middle of a game. While Nanami was distracted by the question, the girl tried to swoop in and take Nanami's ball. Nanami managed to move her ball out of harm's way, but ended up taking the shot with her body. Off balance, Nanami crashed to the ground losing control of the ball.

"No fair!" One of the girls who was already out hollered.

"She cheated!" Someone else called.

Nanami ignored them and looked up at the girl who had bested her. She smiled down at Nanami cockily.

"Good job, Temari. That a way to show them Senior. By the way Uzumaki, you were pretty good for someone who hasn't played before."

Nanami looked up to see Coach Anko's hand in front of her face. She took it pulling herself back up.

"Well I've never played team ball, but I used to play one-on-one with some of my foster siblings." Nanami told her. "Self-taught of course." She added.

"I think I want to see what else you got." Anko told her sizing her up.

Nanami and the rest of the girls were put through more drills and games as she weeded out her better players. The Temari girl kept looking over at her, but never had another chance to talk to Nanami. For as good of shape as she thought she was in, Nanami was finding herself dragging by the end. Finally, Coach Anko called them all together.

"Alright, good work girls. I'm pretty sure I've seen all I want to see to make my choice, but try-outs are open all week. However, if you didn't feel good about today, don't bother showing up tomorrow. You're dismissed."

The girls started heading back to the locker room, some groaning while others talked excitedly. Nanami didn't care one way or the other. She liked the class and figured she would stay unless Anko kicked her out.

"Hey Nanami, you did really good!" Sakura congratulated her.

"Thanks you weren't too bad either." Nanami replied remembering the great jump shot Sakura had taken over Nanami's outreached arms.

"Thanks, I just hope I was good enough." She admitted.

"What do you mean? I bet the three of us are going to be starters!" Ino piped up optimistically.

"I wouldn't bet on it, freshman." A voice sneered.

Nanami turned around to see that it was that Temari girl again. Nanami wasn't sure how she felt about her yet.

"So Nanami, you never did answer me out there on the court." Temari started up.

"Why are you so curious about me and Naruto?" Nanami asked.

She shrugged. "Just thought it was a pretty weird situation. I wanted to know more about it. Of course you did mention something about foster siblings?"

Before Nanami could say anything Ino came to her defense. "She doesn't have to tell you anything, Temari Sabuku!"

"Yeah! Especially after that cheap shot you pulled!" Sakura seconded.

"Please, she practically fell down on her own."

Sakura and Ino started getting into a heated argument with her after that, but something else had caught Nanami's attention.

"Wait, you're last name is Sabuku?" Nanami asked.

The other three stared at her momentarily forgetting what they were doing.

"Yeah, what of it?" Temari asked.

"You wouldn't happen to be related to Gaara Sabuku, would you?" She pressed.

Temari looked taken back. She quickly regained her composure. "He was so sure that was going to work. Oh well, guess I'll have to tell him to find a different plan. Yeah, to answer your question, I'm his sister."

Sakura and Ino looked confused, but Nanami knew what she was talking about. Nanami couldn't believe she had been so careless. She had almost handed Gaara the bet within the first day it was made. She couldn't help but admire his determination to send his own sister to find out for him.

"Ha! You should tell him that I won't be tricked that easily!" Nanami cried triumphantly.

"Please, if blabber-mouth hadn't spilled my last name, you would have handed over the information like that." She said snapping her fingers for emphasize. "Besides, I now know that you lived in a foster home before you came here which is more than what you've got on Gaara."

Nanami gritted her teeth realizing that she was right. How could she have been stupid enough to let that much slip?

"Guess I'll catch you losers later." She mocked before walking out.

"What a bitch!" Ino called after she left.

"What was that all about, Nanami?" Sakura asked ignoring Ino.

"Um, I'll tell you later. Right now I should probably go find Naruto." Nanami told them realizing that school had been over for an hour.

"Well he's probably still in football practice and won't be out for awhile. In fact, Ino and I are going to cheerleading tryouts. Wanna go with us?" Sakura asked excited.

"To cheerleading tryouts? No, I'll just stick with basketball." Nanami laughed.

"C'mon, it'll be fun. Plus, we'll be right on the field next to Sasuke!" Ino squealed.

"Oh, and that makes all the difference in the world." Nanami remarked sarcastically.

They tried a couple of other ways to convince Nanami, but gave up on it in the end. Nanami was not going to budge on this issue. She really thought that cheerleading was a waste of school resources. Nanami walked out front to her car and texted Jiraiya asking him if she needed to wait for Naruto. She instantly got a reply saying that he would take care of him. Feeling relieved that she knew her brother had a ride, Nanami gladly got into her car and started it up.

"Hey Nanami!"

Nanami looked up to see Kiba running over to her.

"Hey Kiba!" She called back cheerfully getting out of the car to talk.

"How was your first day?" He asked.

She shrugged. "Interesting I guess."

"Yeah, look I'm sorry about the Sai thing. I shouldn't have gotten angry like that." He apologized rubbing the back of his head.

"Please, I had already blown up over the same thing, otherwise I would have been right there with you."

"Then why didn't you come back and sit with us?"

"Oh well I saw Naruto sitting with Gaara, and I was curious about how they knew each other."

"Yeah, I still have trouble understanding that one as well."

"So you know the story behind that?" She asked hopefully.

"Yeah, but I'll leave it to one of them to explain."

"Oh." Nanami said deflated.

They stood around for a little bit longer in silence. Nanami was wondering how she was going to win this bet if everyone she could go to avoided the topic.

"Hey Nanami?" Kiba asked not looking her in the eye.

"Yes."

"A-Are you doing anything Friday?" He asked his blush spreading.

"I don't think so. Why?" She asked not sure where his embarrassment was coming from.

"Well because I thought maybe we could catch a movie or something."

"Okay, who else is going?"

"W-who else?"

"Wait, did you mean just you and me?" Nanami asked surprised.

"Um, no, of course not. Yeah, who else. Well I'll need to get some definite answers from the others, but you're in?"

"Sure. Do you want a ride?" She offered.

"I'm fine. Thanks anyways."

Kiba took off running through the parking lot leaving Nanami and Little Red. She still wasn't sure what just happened, but she was starting to think that Kiba just tried to ask her out on a date. She waved it off, no matter what anybody said they were just friends. At least that's what she thought they were.

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**Okay so what did you think? Review and tell me how you like it or don't like it :( so far.**


	10. Chapter 10 Want to Play Five?

**Wow, sorry I did not mean to take this long updating. You see I had just started on a new story and I was having a block on where I wanted to go with what I had. However, I did find my inspiration again and I don't think I'll take that long on the next chapter. I don't own anything Naruto just in case you thought that had changed...because it hasn't.**

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**Chapter 10- Want to Play Five?**

The first thing Nanami did when she got home was jump in the shower. She was slightly embarrassed that she had talked to Kiba when she probably smelled awful. She really wasn't in a big hurry and enjoyed letting the warm water spray over her. Finally, feeling much better she stepped out into the steamed bathroom. Having failed to grab another set of clothes, she wrapped a towel around her and walked out into the hallway. She heard the unmistakable crash of the front door and heavy footsteps pounding on the stairs.

"Hey Nanami!" Naruto greeted as he ran past. "Why are you naked?"

Nanami blushed knowing for sure that she was all covered up. That's when she heard a second set of footsteps headed her way. She shot Naruto a dirty look and ran into her bedroom, shutting the door before Jiraiya could get a peep.

"Did I hear something about Nanami being naked?" Jiraiya's voice came from the other side of the door.

"None of your business you Pervy Sage!" Naruto roared.

"I told you not to call me that!" Jiraiya countered.

She heard a few grunts and knew that the fight had become physical. Nanami shook her head not sure if she would ever become accustomed to those two. Instead of putting what she wore that day back on, she grabbed a pair of sweats. She drew her long wet hair back into a ponytail and got on her computer.

She had been hit with an idea in the shower that maybe she could try to Google Gaara and see what she came up with. She didn't know why she was taking this bet to such an extreme level other than the fact that it had become an issue of pride. She felt stupid for letting Gaara get the upper hand on her by using his sister. Her competitiveness and curiosity was eating away at her.

Surprisingly enough, she actually got a few hits and even more surprising none of them were facebook pages. The first one was an old roster for the Suna High basketball team. She clicked on it and was amazed to see that it really was Gaara, only he seemed different. His eyes looked cold and there was no hint of a smile or even a smirk across his face. She noticed that this was only a couple of years old.

She backed out of the page and tried the next site. This was a newspaper article. She glimpsed through the story until she found Gaara's name.

'Local high school basketball player, Gaara Subaku, was suspended from the team for fighting. The Konoha player, Rock Lee, who was attacked, will be released from the hospital later this week after an extensive knee surgery.'

Nanami felt herself gasp. That couldn't possibly be the same Gaara. However, she went back and looked at his picture and found herself more willing to believe. She didn't understand though. Why would Gaara do that? What happened afterwards? And how did this tie into him knowing Naruto?

She tried a couple more searches, but after two hours of looking she gave up. Someone had to know the truth besides Naruto and Gaara who was actually willing to talk about it. Stretching her sore and cramped muscles, she got up from her desk. She went down the stairs curious about what the other two had been doing without her.

"Hey Nanami, just in time." Jiraiya told her as he dished up three bowls on the kitchen table.

Nanami looked closer and saw that he had made ramen for dinner.

"Smells good. Did you cook it?" She asked.

"Of course. I did do the cooking before you came along." Jiraiya defended, slightly offended by her comment.

"Don't lie, Pervy Sage! Before Nanami we ate out almost every night!" Naruto pointed out.

"Shut your mouth, brat!" Jiraiya snapped at Naruto.

Nanami gave a small chuckle as they continued to argue. She went to pick up her bowl when she noticed the takeout sacks that were haphazardly strewn across the table with Ichraku's logo on it. She slowly shook her head at the two before sitting at the table. Finally, Naruto and Jiraiya had quit arguing enough to join her.

"So how was everybody's first day?" Jiraiya finally asked.

"Stupid." Naruto grumbled. "The only good thing about it is football at the end of the day."

"What about English?" Jiraiya asked casually.

Naruto shot him a look. "That may be the worst class of the day."

Jiraiya glared at him, and Nanami started to realize that she was out of the loop on something.

"Why what's wrong with English?" She asked Naruto.

"He's teaching it." Naruto whined pointing towards Jiraiya.

Nanami was about to bust up laughing, but one look from Jiraiya and she managed to stifle it. However, she couldn't keep the amused tone from her voice.

"Well, I would think that this would be a great opportunity for you Naruto. Jiraiya can finally teach you all that he knows about writing."

Naruto gave a disgusted look. Nanami couldn't hold it in any longer, she started laughing.

"Alright, alright. What about you?" Jiraiya asked Nanami going for the subject change.

Nanami wrinkled her nose. "You stuck me in art." She complained.

"You don't like art?" He asked.

"I can't draw." She amended.

"Oh come on! Everyone can draw." Naruto told her optimistically.

"I can't." She shot back.

"Alright besides that?" Jiraiya asked eager for her to continue.

"I guess everything else is fine. Tenten and I have a few classes together, and I think I have a shot at making the basketball team."

"Great!" Jiraiya congratulated her.

By this point Naruto had already finished three bowls, and Jiraiya and Nanami had just finished their first. Feeling full, Nanami got up to put her bowl in the sink when she remembered how full it was.

"That reminds me." She spoke out loud turning back to face Naruto and Jiraiya. "We need to talk."

"About?" Jiraiya asked nervously.

"About this mess you two call a house." Nanami snapped.

"What it looks fine to me." Naruto spoke up indicating the area around him.

Nanami looked around too noticing the trash piled up, the dirt covering the floor, and the papers lying around.

"Well I hate to burst your bubble, but it's not fine. In fact, your room is not fine. The living room is not fine, and I'm done doing all of the cleaning myself."

"Look Nanami, I realize that everything isn't exactly up to standard, but don't you think you're blowing this a little out of proportion?" Jiraiya questioned his arms raised up in surrender.

"No. I've only been here for a short amount of time, but in that time I've done all the dishes, most of the laundry, and all of the straightening up. I realize that before this must have been a regular habit for you two, but as long as I'm here you're going to take some responsibility. So Naruto you're on dishes, Jiraiya can clean the living room, and I'll straighten up this area. Tomorrow we can work on rooms." Nanami issued.

"Come on!" Naruto complained.

"We have to do this tonight?" Jiraiya whined as well.

Nanami shot them both her darkest glare. They instantly jumped into action. She was a little surprised that had worked as well as it did. She didn't think that they would believe that she was capable of doing anything to them. She shrugged her shoulders figuring that they must know somebody who did have the muscle to back up the look.

"Man, this sucks!" Naruto griped from the sink.

"Well if you would do this a little every day instead of waiting for the sink to get full, it wouldn't be as bad." Nanami pointed out.

"Can't you at least help?"

"Will you grow up? You're a big boy, you can do it yourself."

Naruto started mumbling to himself, and Nanami decided he needed something to distract him from his whining.

"How about we play Five while we're working?" She suggested.

Naruto tried to act nonchalant, but she could tell that he was pleased. Five was a game that she had made up so that they could get to know each other better. They were each allowed to ask five questions over anything. The person answering couldn't give any other comments but the answers while the asker could make whatever commentary they wanted. Sometimes it was a lot of fun, but other times it was extremely annoying.

"Alright, who goes first?" Naruto asked.

"You can go first this time." Nanami compromised.

"Okay, let's see…Oh I know! Did you ever wear braces?"

Nanami tried not to laugh since they decided last time that counted as a comment. "No, I lucked into perfectly straight teeth."

"Yeah, I didn't either, but I thought it would be funny to imagine you as a metal mouth."

Nanami held her tongue as she tried to come up with a good question. Obviously the one that she had on her mind she couldn't ask. So instead of asking about Gaara, she thought of the other person who asked her about Naruto today.

"How do you know the school counselor, Mr. Umino?"

"Iruka? He helped get into middle school." Naruto shrugged.

"Why wouldn't you get into middle school, and why do you call him by his first name?" She asked curious.

He smirked. "To answer questions two and three, I wasn't exactly the model student in elementary. I was kind of a punk, and Iruka came and talked to me. We bonded over the experience and he's become more like a friend to me."

Nanami groaned. She always had a tendency to do this. She would involuntarily ask more questions after Naruto answered one, using all five of hers before he had even gone halfway through his. Although, if she were being truthful she probably would have used those two next anyways.

"So my turn. Why don't you ever cut your hair?"

She was caught slightly off-guard on that one. "Oh, well because our mother's was this long and I guess I do it as a sort of legacy to her."

Naruto flinched like he did every time she mentioned their parents. "How do you know how long hers was?"

Nanami smirked. "Wait here and I will show you."

She quickly ran up the stairs and grabbed the picture off her bedside table. She realized that she should have shown this to Naruto a long time ago. As she came back down the stairs she was impressed to see that Jiraiya had finished his job and had done great. She flew around him back into the kitchen where she was even more impressed to see Naruto had finished. He was sitting at the table looking up at her eagerly.

Smiling she sat down next to him, putting the picture in his hand. She watched as he studied it. At first, she couldn't figure out what he was thinking. Then he gave a small sad smile rubbing his finger over the photo tenderly.

"You're right, you do have her hair." He finally told her, a small tear welling up in his eye.

Nanami hugged him feeling her own eyes water up.

"Can I have this?" He asked suddenly.

Nanami felt a small pang in her heart. This was her most prized possession. She didn't think that she could part with it that easily. However, one look at her brother's face and she knew that it would be in good hands.

"The answer to your fourth question…"

Naruto gave a small groan realizing that he did what she usually did and asked a bunch of questions over one subject.

"Is yes. Just as long as you give me long enough to frame it." She submitted.

Naruto's face brightened as he passed the picture back to her.

"Thank you Nanami."

Nanami smiled, happy to please her brother so much. He sat there for a few seconds before she could see that he was getting impatient. That's when she remembered that it was her turn to ask the question.

"Oh right. Okay, um, do you have a crush on anyone?" She asked slyly.

Naruto blushed. "Y-Yes, but you can't tell her!"

"Who is it?" She pestered.

"Sakura." He sighed.

"But doesn't she like Sasuke?" She continued.

However, he grinned mischievously. "I'm sorry but that was five. Which means I don't have to answer that last question and I still have one left."

Nanami sighed realizing her mistake. She could tell that he was planning something big with this last question. She stared at him annoyed ready for him to ask. He opened his mouth ready to speak when his phone went off. Grumbling, he dug the phone out of his pocket. Nanami could tell it was a text by the ringtone that went off, and she tried to keep herself from leaning over his shoulder to read it.

"Oh hey, it's from Kiba. He's asking everybody if they want to go to the movies Friday. I don't know do you want to go?" Naruto asked her looking up from his phone.

Nanami was a little surprised. Kiba had told her today that he had already asked everybody and was just waiting for some definite answers. Getting over the initial shock though, she grinned realizing her brother's mistake.

"Sure, he already invited me, but yes I'm going."

She got up headed back to her room. Naruto jumped up too trying to text while reaching out to stop her.

"Wait! Where are you going and when did he ask you?"

Nanami smiled back at her brother. "I'm sorry I've already answered your fifth question."

Naruto blinked surprised trying to think back on their conversation. Then he figured it out.

"Aww man! You've got to be kidding me! I had a good one too!"

"It'll have to wait until tomorrow, I'm tired now." She teased walking up to her room.

"Stupid Kiba!" Naruto grumbled before letting her go. "Why did he even have to ask tonight anyways?"

Nanami laughed as she entered her room. She had actually been wondering that herself. Did he lie to her or just now decide to ask Naruto? She was starting to get the sinking suspicion that Kiba had wanted it to be the two of them and made up the story on the spot. She blushed thinking about it. Did that mean he liked her? And more importantly did she like him like that? Nanami tried to clear her head of these thoughts. She had learned from experience that when you take a person's best friend and their sibling and tried to make it into a relationship, it always turns out bad for that person. She didn't want to have to put Naruto in that spot. However, it wasn't until her heart lurched that she became worried that her feelings towards Kiba were not what she made them out to be. Before she could consider it anymore, she pulled the covers up and fell into a dreamless sleep.

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**Okay so there wasn't a whole lot going on in this chapter, but I thought that it was important to show how Naruto and Nanami were getting along. By the way, just in case you didn't catch it, when Naruto and Jiraiya instantly jumped into action to clean- they were thinking of Tsunade. Thanks to everyone who's been keeping up and I'm really going to work hard to have the next chapter up a lot sooner.**


	11. Chapter 11 That's Your Opening Line?

**I'm alive! I don't think I can apologize enough for taking so long to update. I had the chapter done, but then I didn't like it, and writer's block kicked in, so I finally just deleted it and started over. Anyways, I won't take up anymore of your time.**

**It's been so long I suppose I should remind you that I don't own Naruto. Just Nanami.**

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**Chapter 11- That's Your Opening Line?**

Finally, after four very long days, Friday had arrived. Nanami was looking forward to today for a number of different reasons the foremost being the results from basketball tryouts. She got ready quickly not looking much different from how she usually did and dragged Naruto to school. Even Naruto, who wasn't a morning person at all was excited about today.

"Hey Nanami, I told Kiba that you would drive all to the movies tonight. Is that cool?" Naruto asked as he got out of the car.

Nanami looked surprised. "Um sure. It's not the whole group right? Because I don't think Little Red can handle that."

Naruto shook his head. "No he assured me it wasn't everybody. In fact, I think it might just be you, me, him, Hinata, and Shino."

"Oh, okay." Nanami agreed.

She was actually more excited about this now. She hadn't had the opportunity to really talk to Hinata since the Hole. She was convinced that tonight would be the perfect night to try to hook her up with Naruto. She knew Naruto would like her if he just got to know her a little more, and she couldn't get over how cute they would look together.

Naruto gave her a big grin and goodbye before running off to his first class. Nanami found herself looking forward to her first hour more and more each day. Her and Gaara's daily quips were entertaining to say the least. She never did tell him what she found out about him on the internet. For one thing, she didn't understand how it linked him to Naruto. For another, she liked letting him think he had the upper hand. It would just make it that more enjoyable when she ripped the rug out from under him.

All of her morning classes seemed to fly by until Art. Their projects were due today and the farthest Nanami had gotten on it was her name on the back. However, no matter how long she stared at it she couldn't come up with anything to draw. Tenten glanced over at her warily.

"Girl, you are so not going to make a good grade."

Nanami groaned. "I know. I'm sorry, but I've got to switch classes. I won't be able to pass if this is how my first assignment goes."

Tenten gave her a small smile before going back to her work. Tenten's was amazing. It was a baby grand piano with a purple backdrop, golden notes floating through the air, and boy sitting on the bench. Nanami had asked several times who it was supposed to be, but Tenten would always blush and look away. However, Nanami was positive it was Neji. Especially since she found out he played the piano for the vocal class. Before Nanami could even contemplate drawing a circle on her paper, the bell rang. She sighed staring down at her blank piece of paper. Everyone else was eagerly handing over their works to Kurenai before hurrying out the door. Nanami was at the very back and she practically threw her paper at Kurenai before trying to sprint out the door.

"Hey Nanami, hold on a second." Kurenai called out.

Nanami debated on pretending like she didn't hear her before grudging turning back.

"Yes Miss Kurenai?"

"Is this your assignment on how you view the world?" She asked curiously.

"Yes." Nanami admitted meekly.

Kurenai stared back down at the sheet. "It's blank."

Nanami bowed her head embarrassed. "Yes."

"I kind of expected as much from you. You have a pure view of the world, right?" She asked smugly.

Nanami perked her head up. That may not have been what she was going for, but that sure sounded good. However, then Nanami looked up into her red eyes and felt the guilt weigh down on her for even thinking such a thought to get a good grade.

"No Miss Kurenai, I can't draw. Art wasn't an elective I chose, and I don't feel like I'll be any good at this class." She admitted.

Kurenai looked thoughtful. "Just because you couldn't draw doesn't mean you wouldn't make an attempt at this. You don't seem like the type of person to just give up on something."

Nanami stared at the blank paper in Kurenai's hand. Now it just looked mocking.

"I-I…um?" Nanami searched for anything to say, but came up just as blank as that paper.

Kurenai smiled. "I'll tell you what, I'll let you transfer to another class on one condition."

Nanami looked up anxiously. "What?"

"You have to turn in this _finished_ assignment by the end of the year and I don't care if it's full of stick people and lollipop trees. Deal?"

Nanami thought about it. If she stayed in this class, she was sure to fail. She didn't understand what was important about finishing an assignment for a class she wouldn't be taking either. However, maybe without the pressure of a short-term due date, she could actually finish it. And Kurenai said it didn't have to be amazing either.

Nanami nodded. "Okay, sure. I can handle that."

The day went by much faster at that point and Nanami was headed home in the best mood of her life. Mr. Umino helped her switch out of Art, and she would be taking Home Ec. Monday. Then, she found out she did make the basketball team. The downside was so did Temari, however, the upside was Sakura and Ino did too.

Nanami parked Little Red and skipped up to her room wondering if she should change clothes to something nicer. However, she was comfortable in what she was in, and it wasn't like she was trying to impress anybody. She blushed at that thought. She hoped she wasn't trying to impress anybody. Instead she pulled out her homework to pass the time. Naruto wouldn't get out of practice until five, so they decided to catch a six o'clock movie and maybe grab something to eat afterwards. Nanami worked on her math which was difficult even for her, finished her chem, and was just pulling out her history book when she heard the door open. She jumped surprised to see it was five already.

"Hey Nanami!" Naruto greeted on his way to his room. "Kiba and Shino are downstairs, and we have to go pick Hinata up."

"Okay." Nanami hollered back.

She hopped up from her desk, did some last minute appearance checks, grabbed her purse, and walked down the stairs. Kiba and Shino were standing around uncomfortably wearing their usual attire making Nanami glad she didn't dress up.

"Hey guys! What's up?" She greeted.

Kiba broke out in a grin while Shino remained impassive.

"That's your opening line? What's up?" He teased.

Nanami rolled her eyes. "I could have asked how's school." She pointed out.

He wrinkled his nose. "It's Friday, we don't have to think about school for another two days." He complained.

Nanami laughed. "That's definitely the truth."

They laughed along with her and finally Naruto came running back down the stairs showered and dressed in a black tee, orange shorts, and a black baseball cap.

"You guys ready?" He asked running out the door.

The other three shook their heads before following Nanami's eager brother to the car. Naruto instantly hopped in the front passenger seat leaving Kiba and Shino to sit in the back.

"Okay so how do I get to Hinata's house?" Nanami asked as she backed down the drive.

"You're going to go down this street, take a right, go about three miles, and then turn left. Trust me, you won't miss it." Kiba instructed.

Nanami nodded her head as she followed his directions. For the most part she listened to Naruto narrate how football has been going. Sasuke apparently has been seeing a lot of action as the quarterback during practice which had the blonde in a twit. Kiba dogged on Naruto about it, but Nanami wasn't paying too much attention. She was beginning to notice that they were getting into a very ritzy neighborhood.

"Um, are you sure this is the right way?" She asked uncertainly.

Kiba looked up. "Yeah, you're going the right way. Look, there it is right there."

Nanami's mouth dropped open. If it wasn't for the sign in front that said 'Hyuuga Estate' she wouldn't believe it. It wasn't a house it was more like a mansion. Nanami pulled up to the gates unsure of what to do.

"I'll text her and let her know we're here." Kiba said as he reached for his phone.

However, it wasn't necessary as the small blue haired girl came walking down the long path. Kiba got out so she could hop in between him and Shino.

"H-Hello everybody." Hinata greeted.

Nanami turned around in her seat in awe. "Hinata, you_ live_ there?"

Hinata blushed. "O-Of course."

Kiba laughed. "Nanami you act like you didn't know Hinata was an heiress."

Nanami felt shock overcome her again. "I didn't."

"Oops." Naruto commented.

"Naruto, you dope!" Kiba chastised.

Everyone started laughing except for Hinata.

"I-It's not N-Naruto's fault." She argued.

Kiba rolled his eyes, but Naruto smiled.

"Yeah, that's right. Hinata is on my side."

Hinata blushed instantly as Naruto smiled back at her. Nanami felt herself smiling at how cute it was. Even if Naruto was completely unaware of it, he was probably making the girl's heart soar. Interrupting to ask for directions, Nanami got them to the theater with twenty minutes to spare.

"Okay, so what do you guys want to see?" Kiba asked.

Nanami looked up at the list of movies. There was The Other Guys, Eat Pray Love, The Expendables, Vampires Suck, and The Exorcism. Nanami was getting nervous. Eat Pray Love sounded like the only safe one, but it was a chick flick and she and Hinata were outnumbered.

"Let's see The Exorcism!" Naruto yelled.

"No!" Nanami and Hinata yelled at the same time.

"Well we're not seeing a stupid comedy like The Other Guys or Vampires Suck." Shino remarked.

Kiba scratched the back of his head. "So Eat Pray Love or The Expendables?"

"Please not the girly one!" Naruto begged.

"So The Expendables sounds cool with everyone?" Kiba double checked.

The other three instantly started nodding their heads. Nanami, however, was hesitant. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she thought.

"Okay." She shrugged.

"Alright, two for The Expendables." He told the ticket tender handing her the money.

He took the tickets and turned back around looking at Nanami. Nanami blushed thinking that he had just bought her ticket.

"Thanks." Shino said taking the ticket from his hand and walking inside.

Kiba looked baffled before he followed after him slightly annoyed. Nanami hid a laugh and watched Naruto walk up to the ticket counter.

"One-OW!"

Naruto yelped in pain after Nanami elbowed him in the ribs.

"What was that for?"

"Buy Hinata's ticket!" She whispered urgently.

"Why?" Naruto asked confused.

Nanami desperately tried to think of something. "Be-Because…poor little Hinata is so shy. You can't possibly expect her to buy one herself."

Naruto's eyes widened in understanding. Nanami smirked at how well he bought it.

"Two for The Expendables." He told the clerk.

"Come on Hinata, let's go!" He told her handing her the ticket and dragging her inside.

Nanami could tell from her blush and the smile spreading across Hinata's face that she did the right thing. She bought her ticket and followed after the others.

"Hey Nanami! Do you want some popcorn?" Kiba asked from the line at the concession stand.

"Sure." She nodded.

He nodded back excited before he told the man his order. Naruto was in line behind him, and Shino and Hinata were standing off to the side next to the theater.

"So Hinata is Naruto getting you something?" Nanami feigned innocence.

Hinata blushed. "H-He said t-that he would t-take care of everything for me tonight."

Nanami cooed and hugged Hinata while the other girl tried to play it off. Pretty soon the boys were back with three popcorns and five drinks. Kiba handed one of the popcorns and a drink to Shino and then turned to Nanami.

"I was thinking maybe we could share the popcorn. You know unless you don't want to." He told her blushing.

Nanami smiled before grabbing a handful out of the bag. "I don't mind."

Kiba shot her a dazzling smile that betrayed his relief and excitement. Taking Nanami's hand in his, they walked into the movie theater. She wasn't exactly sure, but this was starting to seem like a date. Surprisingly enough though, that didn't really bother her.

She sat down next to the others so that it was Shino on the end, then Hinata, then Naruto, her, and Kiba. The previews started and Nanami was surprised by how violent they were. She gulped previews were usually a good indication of what the movie is like.

"Kiba, what's this movie about?" She whispered.

He raised an eyebrow confused. "Haven't you seen the previews? It's like a monster action movie that casted every big action hero star."

Nanami started to panic that didn't sound like it was good news for her. She stared at the screen with dread as she clinched the arms of her chair tighter.

"Are you okay?" Kiba asked worriedly.

The movie had started and Nanami could feel her heart beating faster.

"I've got to go." She suddenly announced getting up despite the protest from the other movie goers.

Her friends looked at her concerned, but she ignored them for the time being. She had to go. If she looked up at the wrong moment…

She had just reached the aisle when the first gunshot was sounded through the theater. She instinctively looked up at the movie, and felt her world going black. The red blood on the screen being the last thing she had seen.

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**So was it worth the wait? I figured since I started this story last fall that I should use some movies from that time period. It worked since there was a movie I could comfortably use for Nanami's...unease. So what's wrong with Nanami? I guess you'll just have to wait for the next chapter. Bwahahaha! (Seriously though, I'll work on it right now so you're not waiting an eternity for it.) Anyways leave me a review telling me what you think.**


	12. Chapter 12 Did You Just Say You're Afrai

**Hey look it's an update that didn't take months! It seemed easier to write this chapter mostly because I knew exactly how I wanted it to go. Besides I left off with Nanami fainting, I'm sure you're dying to know the reason. Thanks to everybody for reading and reviewing!**

**I don't own anything Naruto.**

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**Chapter 12- Did You Just Say You're Afraid of Blood?**

Nanami felt a sensation like she was floating. It was unusual and seemed out of place, but she couldn't quite grasp why. The weight of consciousness finally began to weigh on her, and she realized that she was asleep. Forcing her heavy eyelids to open, she blinked against a bright light. What exactly was going on?

"Alright people, back up, give us some room!" An urgent and unfamiliar voice hollered.

She winced. Why was it so loud? The next voice she did recognize.

"Nanami! Nanami? Can you hear me?"

Naruto. What was wrong with him? Why did his voice sound so scared?

Suddenly all of her senses seemed to kick back on in the same moment. She instantly tried to sit up before she was pushed back down. Desperation took hold of her as she fought against those pinning arms.

"Just relax. We'll have you to the hospital in a moment." The first voice urged.

She calmed down just a little bit. That would explain the floating sensation. She must be in an ambulance. But why did she need to go to the hospital? She tried to remember what happened up until this point. Then she remembered. She started shaking thinking about the last thing she had seen.

"She's going into shock. Give her the anesthetic."

Nanami barely registered those words before she felt a sharp prick and her world went dark again. The second time waking up was a lot easier. She didn't have the same panicky feeling as before. She slowly opened her eyes again aware of six shapes at the end of her bed.

"So Tsunade, is she going to be okay?"

Was that Jiraiya's voice?

"I don't know why you called me, the doctors here have done a good job."

Nanami didn't recognize the woman's voice, but she felt like she should know who she was.

"I just…feel more comfortable with you looking her over. Just in case they missed something."

She could hear the woman humming to herself. "It's not that hard to figure out. It's vasovagal syncope reacted by some post-traumatic phobia."

It was silent for a moment. "And in English?" Jiraiya finally asked.

Nanami knew what it meant however. This wasn't her first episode.

"I fainted because I'm afraid of blood." She groaned.

Everyone instantly looked over in her direction. She could now make out Jiraiya along with Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino. The other woman she really didn't know very well but she assumed that this was Tsunade. Everyone instantly rushed to her side at once.

"How you feeling Kiddo?" Jiraiya asked.

She gave him a weak smile. "I've been better."

"N-Nanami, w-we were so worried." Hinata conveyed.

"Yeah, what happened back there?" Naruto asked concerned.

"Did you just say you were afraid of blood?" Shino asked intrigued.

She lowered her eyes embarrassed. "Yes, I'm hemaphobic."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Kiba asked softly.

She slowly met his worried gaze that only made her feel guiltier.

"I didn't…I was just…I don't know." She sighed.

"Hey guys, why don't you get out of here for a while and give Nanami some space." Jiraiya directed.

The other four looked up at Jiraiya hesitantly. However, they finally complied shooting Nanami one final glance. After they left Nanami hugged her knees into her chest trying not to cry.

"I'll just wait outside." Tsunade told Jiraiya following the other four.

Jiraiya sighed before moving to sit on Nanami's bed. She tried to act like she didn't notice.

"So, what exactly happened?"

"Isn't it obvious?" She snapped back.

She could see surprise cross his features. She didn't blame him. She hardly ever got angry.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He finally asked rubbing the back of his head.

"No, I just want to go home. I hate hospitals!"

She could start to feel the sobs in her throat, and it became harder for her to hold in her tears. Jiraiya started rubbing her back.

"Hey take it easy. We'll get you out of here soon enough. I just want to make sure you're okay."

Nanami started bawling then. "I'm fine. I know I am. I hate it when everyone makes a big deal over it. I just…I just want to leave."

She felt a shift on the bedspread, and she assumed Jiraiya got up to leave. However, the sudden warm embrace surprised her.

"I'm sorry Nanami." Jiraiya whispered.

What did he have to be sorry for? It wasn't like he caused her to become hemaphobic. She didn't even know the reason herself. She always had this sense right before she woke up from a faint that she had been grasping a memory that had been hidden from her, but it always slipped away with consciousness. She relaxed her body under Jiraiya's arms returning the hug openly crying into his shirt. She may not have understood his actions, but that didn't mean she didn't appreciate it. After ten minutes of this she finally calmed down and broke apart from Jiraiya.

She wiped away the last of her tears. "Thanks, I'm sorry I yelled earlier."

He gave her a big grin. "No problem Kiddo. Now how about I see if we can't get you home?"

Nanami nodded appreciatively as he left her alone. She was so glad Jiraiya had been here with her. The entire situation was easier when she had people who cared about her. She let her thoughts drift to her friends. Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino seemed pretty upset. She hoped she hadn't scared them too bad. She sighed in relief. At least it was just those three, she couldn't imagine what would happen if the whole group was here.

"BY THE POWER OF YOUTH, CLEAR THE WAY!"

Nanami instantly sat up in her bed. There was no way that was who she thought it was. However, she was proven wrong as a green blur glomped her nearly ripping the needles out of her arm.

"Nanami, I was so worried! I was afraid your youthfulness would never grace us again!"

Nanami sighed before patting the blubbering Lee on the back.

"I'm okay Lee. I promise." She soothed.

"LEE! YOU IDIOT! GET OFF OF HER!"

Lee was ripped off of Nanami by a furious Tenten. Nanami looked over at the last newcomer who had his head in his hand.

"You two are going to get us kicked out if you can't keep your voices at a lower decimal." Neji growled.

Nanami was torn between happiness at seeing her friends and embarrassment at being confined to a hospital bed.

"What are you guys doing here?" She asked.

Tenten instantly softened and left Lee in the corner to sit on her bed.

"We heard what happened, and we were worried about you silly." Tenten informed her.

Nanami frowned. "How did you know?"

"Hinata texted me and I texted them." Neji explained. "Although now I'm starting to question why I did."

Tenten stuck her tongue out at him before turning back to Nanami. "So how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Nanami instantly answered.

"Oh dear brave Nanami! Your youth should be an inspiration to us all!" Lee cried out clutching her hand with tears streaming down his face.

"So how are you really?" Neji asked raising an eyebrow.

She thought about giving him the same answer she gave Tenten. Then she looked around at all of their worried faces. Her friends deserved the truth after spending this much energy on her. She leaned back against her pillow.

"Tired. And embarrassed. I just want to go home and put this whole thing behind me."

The three looked at her sympathetically. However, what sounded like a herd of cattle coming down the hall caused all four of them to jump. Nanami narrowed her eyes at her so called friends.

"Who else did you tell?" She whispered dangerously.

Before any of them could answer, all of the other freshmen came flocking in with Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and Shino trying to hold them back. However, it quickly became apparent that their efforts were in vain so they gave up and stood at the back of the group that quickly filled Nanami's small hospital room.

"Nanami, are you okay?"

"Nanami, I came as soon as I heard!"

"Is there anything to eat here?"

"So what happened to you?"

"Man, this is such a drag."

Nanami could feel a headache begin to form at the noise everyone was causing. This was just as bad as the mall when she first met them. Nanami was just about to yell at them like she had then when someone else beat her to it.

"Hey! This is a hospital! Either be quiet or leave!"

Nanami saw Tsunade standing in the doorway looking quite frightening. That explained why everyone got quiet so fast. Satisfied that they weren't going to cause any more trouble, Tsunade walked back out of the room.

"Tenten, who is she?" Nanami whispered only loud enough for the girl to hear.

Tenten looked at her confused. "That's Lady Tsunade, the principal of our school?"

Nanami blushed. "Oh."

Tenten started laughing bringing everyone's attention back to the red-haired girl.

"Nanami, I'm so glad to see you okay. Naruto was so worried when he called me." Sakura told her smiling.

"Yeah! Then she texted me and I knew we had to come see if you were okay for ourselves." Ino added.

Nanami turned to Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Choji. "And you three?"

"Sakura texted me saying we had to come right away." Sasuke explained bored.

"And Ino, the troublesome woman, nearly knocked our doors down to drag us down here." Shikamaru explained almost as emotionless.

However, Nanami had been around them long enough to see that they were worried about her. With those two, you had to look past their words and deep into their eyes to get their true feelings. She looked up to see Naruto and Kiba shove past the others to get closer to her.

"You're not mad are you?" Naruto asked unusually concerned.

Nanami shook her head 'no' a small smile gracing her lips.

"So you want to tell us what this was all about?" Kiba asked anxiously.

Nanami could see that she held everyone's attention. She sighed before shrugging.

"For as long as I can remember, the mere sight of blood has caused me to go into these panics. Sometimes it's not this bad, but other times it can be days before I wake up."

She tried to force a laugh to lighten the situation, but no one laughed back. They all looked worried and afraid for her. She lowered her gaze again.

"You could have said something at the movies. We would have watched something else if we had known." Kiba told her placing his hand on top of hers.

She blushed before moving her hand away to grab the sheets around her.

"I don't really like to talk about it."

Everyone was silent before Jiraiya came lumbering back into the room.

"Alright Nanami, I got the release papers signed so whenever you're ready."

That's when he noticed everyone in the room. He grinned.

"Well if it isn't the welcoming committee."

Almost as if a weight was lifted everyone began to smile or joke back. Nanami was grateful to not have all the attention on her. A nurse moved past everyone and began to unhook Nanami from the various machines. She peeled back her sheets ecstatic that they had left her clothes on this time. She must not have been out for very long.

"Alright Miss Uzumaki, just take it easy for the next couple of days and drink plenty of fluids." The nurse instructed. "Other than that you're free to go."

Nanami thanked her before swinging her feet out of the bed. She quickly jumped up forgetting an important side effect, dizziness. She swayed and nearly fell to the ground, but several sets of hands caught her.

The person holding her right arm whispered in her ear. "You okay?"

She turned her head towards Kiba and nodded. "Yeah, just a little lightheaded."

"Maybe you should stay here." Neji instructed being the one holding her by her shoulders.

She shook her head. She was not going to stay here any longer than she had to. Besides there was nothing more for her here that she couldn't get at home.

"I'm fine." She assured him.

"Here Nanami! The nurse says you should ride in this until we get to the car." Naruto offered pushing a wheelchair up to her.

"No." She told him firmly.

There was no way she was going to look like a weakling by riding a wheelchair out of the hospital. However, all of her saviors quickly became her damners as they pushed her into the chair.

"Actually, that's the policy here." Sakura pointed out a little too smugly.

Nanami crossed her arms flustered. "Fine, but for the record I don't need it."

Everyone started laughing.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked her eagerly his hands gripping the back of her chair.

"For what?" She asked perplexed.

He gave her a foxy grin his eyes lit with determination.

"Oh no, someone stop him." Jiraiya cried rushing forward.

However, before anyone could do anything, Naruto shot the wheelchair out of the room and down the hall at unsafe speeds. All of the doctors and nurses gasped before jumping out of the way. Nanami's grip on the chair tightened.

"Nar-u-to!" She warned as the glass doors loomed closer refusing to open.

"This will be close!" He hollered back at her unwavering in speed.

Nanami shut her eyes. She could not believe she was going to have an accident in a hospital. By some miracle chance, the doors whooshed open at the right moment letting the two pass freely into the night air. Naruto formed a quick stop nearly knocking Nanami out of her chair.

"Are you crazy?" She shot back to him after she had caught her breath.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head smiling. "Sorry, I always wanted to do that."

Nanami sighed finding it hard to stay mad at him with that goofy look on his face.

"Well at least you got me out of there faster than what anyone else was." She thanked him.

He gave a small smile. "You really don't like hospitals, do you?"

Nanami shrugged getting out of the chair. "I don't like being restricted."

Suddenly everyone else came rushing out the hospital doors yelling at Naruto.

"You idiot! Were you trying to kill her?" Sakura yelled bopping him on the head.

Nanami laughed softly when she felt someone come up beside her.

"You sure you're okay?" Kiba asked.

Nanami rolled her eyes. "I promise, this isn't exactly normal for me but it happens enough for me to not be too worried."

"Alright." Kiba finally agreed uneasily.

Nanami didn't like this. She hated how everyone was looking at her like some kind of china doll. She smiled.

"So was the movie good?"

Kiba blinked in surprise before busting up laughing. Nanami started laughing along with him catching everyone else's attention. For once, she didn't care though. She just liked being able to enjoy the moment with the people she cared about, and who cared about her.

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**So did you expect Nanami to be a hemaphobe? It can also be pronounced as hemophobic, but my computer kept wanting to change it to homophobic so...Please leave a review!**


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